The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is welcoming back the graduates from spring 2020, summer 2020, fall 2020 and spring 2021 who missed their commencement ceremonies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the class of 2022, the graduates have the opportunity to walk in the 208th spring commencement on Saturday, May 14. The two ceremonies will take place at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium. Former Wisconsin Governor and current President of the UW System Tommy G. Thompson will deliver the principal speaker address.
The College of Business, Industry, Life Science and Agriculture ceremony, which will include graduate programs and associate degree candidates, will take place at 10 a.m. The College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science and College of Liberal Arts and Education ceremony will take place at 2 p.m.
“Commencement is one of our biggest celebrations on campus and this year we’re making it bigger than ever,” said Aaron Athas, president of the UW-Platteville Alumni Association and 2010 UW-Platteville graduate. “Many of our students and their families have had to wait two years to celebrate this momentous accomplishment. We can’t wait to see them all come back for such an amazing celebration.”
Alumna Mikayla Ney is excited to come back to campus and join her fellow Pioneers. Ney, who earned her degree in chemistry, graduated in December 2020. She is a clinical research assistant for the Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office Lab at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Ney emphasized the importance of being able to reunite with her class one more time.
“My last two semesters at UW-Platteville were far from normal with having to adjust to all our classes changing formats, not being able to attend the on-campus events that we had planned and not getting a chance to say goodbye to friends. Most of us moved home once classes were completely remote,” she said. “Being welcomed back gives us a chance to have that special moment at graduation and put closure to that chapter in our lives without having to do so from a computer screen.”
After commencement, the festivities will continue with an outdoor celebration including fireworks on campus, sponsored in part by the UW-Platteville Alumni Association and UW-Platteville Foundation.
For more details about commencement, visit https://www.uwplatt.edu/commencement.