More than 350 August and December graduates of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs are expected to participate in commencement exercises beginning at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 14 at the Pikes Peak Center, 190 S. Cascade Ave.<\/p>\n
CU President Hank Brown and UCCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak will provide comments for the graduates, the first to participate in a December graduation ceremonies. An estimated 357 students who earned degrees in August and December will participate, according to Tamara Moore, dean of students.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, UCCS has held a single May commencement ceremony at the World Arena. A December ceremony was added this year to accommodate students and families and to ease space concerns at the May ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are pleased to offer August and December graduates the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments,\u201d Shockley-Zalabak said. \u201cCelebrating success is important and I believe such celebrations lead to future accomplishments and celebrations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shockley-Zalabak\u2019s commencement address will encourage students to take pride in accomplishing the goal of a UCCS degree and to continue their work in defining personal and professional success.<\/p>\n
In her remarks, Shockley-Zalabak will talk about the experiences of three UCCS students.<\/p>\n
Featured are:<\/p>\n
Jay Lee, 55, of Colorado Springs, who will receive a bachelor\u2019s degree in electrical engineering. Lee holds what is believed to be a record in the length of time to degree, 30 years.<\/p>\n
Disco was popular when the materials engineer for Hewlett Packard began at UCCS. For 30 years, with a 10-year break, Lee took one class or lab each semester and applied what he learned in class to his job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I\u2019d never get to the end,\u201d Lee said recently. \u201cBut I just kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesica Jerrold, 22, of Kiowa, will receive a bachelor\u2019s degree in communication.<\/p>\n
A member of the Chancellor\u2019s Leadership Class, Jerrold is the first person in her family to earn a degree. She worked part-time on campus and for a local non-profit organization while attending UCCS.<\/p>\n
She hopes to continue working in the non-profit sector following graduation and to assist others.<\/p>\n
Ruth Corfah, 32, of Colorado Springs, is the daughter of a Liberian immigrant and joined the Army at 16. At 17, she was a combat medic. After leaving the Army, she worked a variety of jobs before enrolling at UCCS.<\/p>\n
Corfah will earn a master\u2019s degree in forensic science Friday, her third degree from UCCS. On Saturday, she will accept a commission as a first lieutenant in the Army Medical Service and hopes to someday become a physician.<\/p>\n
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado, and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The University offers 29 bachelor\u2019s degrees, 18 master\u2019s, and four doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 7,700 students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than 350 August and December graduates of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs are expected to participate in commencement exercises beginning at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Dec. 14 at the Pikes Peak Center, 190 (Full Press Release)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pressreleases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressreleases.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}