Around Town With Phil: UMass Dartmouth Commencement Ceremonies
UMass Dartmouth has announced the full details of its 2018 Commencement ceremonies.
The undergraduate and graduate ceremonies will be held at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield on Saturday, May 12, while the School of Law ceremony will be held Monday, May 14 at the main campus auditorium in Dartmouth.
The graduate ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. on May 12 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield. President and CEO of Southcoast Health System, Inc. and Southcoast Hospitals Group, Inc. Keith A. Hovan will receive the Chancellor’s Medal and deliver the commencement address. Chioma Judith Okafor (MBA, ’18), an advocate for empowerment of women and humanitarian services, will deliver the graduate student address. Okafor is from Festac Town, Lagos, Nigeria.
The undergraduate ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. on May 12 at the Xfinity Center. Senior Vice President, Marketing Operations, Consumer Products Division for Hasbro Bryony Bouyer ‘86 will receive an honorary degree and deliver the commencement address. Andrew Tyrrell (Political Science, ’18), the Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper, will deliver the undergraduate student address. Tyrrell is from Fall River, MA.
The School of Law ceremony will be held at the Main Auditorium on the UMass Dartmouth campus at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 14. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healeywill receive the Chancellor’s Medal and deliver the commencement address. Alicia Blanchard (JD, ’18), a law student seeking to help children with disabilities, will deliver the law school student address. Blanchard is from Littleton, MA.
The university expects to award more than 1,400 undergraduate, nearly 600 graduate, 50 law, and more than 40 doctorate degrees this spring. Graduates come from more than 30 countries, 28 states, and 267 Massachusetts communities.
The average age of graduating undergraduate students was 24.6 years old, graduate students was 30.5, and law was 29.2. Male graduates made up 50.3% of the class of 2018, while 49.7% of the class were females. Students of color made up 27% of this year’s graduating class. And 213 engineers, 115 nurses, 98 psychology majors, 74 artists and musicians, and 73 accountants earned an undergraduate degree this year from UMass Dartmouth.
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