UK Celebrates December Graduates

Click play button below for live streaming of Commencement ceremonies. The Graduate Ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. and the Undergraduate Ceremony begins at 6 p.m. Livestream coverage should begin approximately eight minutes before the start of each ceremony.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 19, 2014) — Today, University of Kentucky students will become university alumni as they take part in the 2014 December Commencement Ceremonies. The Graduate and Professional Ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. while the Undergraduate Ceremony begins at 6 p.m. Both ceremonies will be held inside Memorial Coliseum. This will be the fifth December ceremony UK has held to honor students who earned their degrees in August or December.

Both ceremonies will be live streamed on UKNow.

Approximately 839 undergraduates and 125 graduate and professional students are expected to participate in today's ceremonies. A total of 1,357 undergraduate degrees, 536 graduate degrees and 22 professional degrees have been conferred for August and December 2014.

UK President Eli Capilouto will deliver remarks at both ceremonies, and a student will address the crowd at the undergraduate ceremony, per university tradition. Lauren Thompson, from Louisville, will serve as the 2014 December Commencement student speaker. The communication major has spent her time at UK participating in the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the National Association of Black Accountants, Ad Club, and serving as a UK 101 Peer Instructor. She was also selected for the German-American Fulbright Commission Summer Session last year, spending a month in Berlin.

"UK means everything to me; I have had so many opportunities presented to me that I would not have known if I went anywhere else," she said. "My experiences at UK have hands-down prepared me for the future. I feel that I'm leaving the school stronger, wiser, and better than I was when I came in." 

UK is also celebrating its graduates who have overcome many obstacles and trials in their past.

Non-traditional art studio senior Caitlin Sollee, a native of Berea, Kentucky, and resident of Lexington, has had several constraints on finishing her degree but has persevered after first starting at EKU in 2000, transferring to UofL and then coming to UK in 2008. Not only did the artist finish her studies while raising a child and working, she’s had to work around the performance schedule of her partner, the popular musician Ben Sollee, who tours nationwide. Sometimes Caitlin had to do school on a part-time basis because of her load, but she persisted and has done well, recently exhibiting at the UK School of Art and Visual Studies Senior BA Show “Les Femmes.” While Ben Sollee is known as a talented cellist and composer, Caitlin is a gifted photographer and fiber artist. During her time at UK, Caitlin has studied with prestigious photographer Guy Mendes and with noted printer Paul Holbrook, of UK's King Library Press.

Arin Gilliland, a kinesiology senior and arguably the greatest women’s soccer player in UK history, has had a storied career at UK, but not an easy one.  After taking the Kentucky Miss Soccer title as a player at West Jessamine High School, she chose to play college soccer at UK, where she suffered a major injury — a torn ACL — during an SEC tournament game her freshman year. The injury took away an opportunity to play for the United States in the Under-20 World Cup, the premier event in youth soccer. Later that academic year, Arin's mother Letita, who was diagnosed with colon cancer when Arin was in high school, died in April 2012.  After physical and emotional healing, Arin returned to the team for her sophomore year and continued her outstanding soccer play for three more years at UK. Earlier this year the Collegiate Women Sports Awards presented Arin with the 2014 Honda Inspiration Award, which is given to one female athlete a year who has overcome hardship and was able to return to play at the collegiate level.

Honorary Degrees

In addition to the students' degrees, the university will also award honorary doctorates to two individuals during the Undergraduate Ceremony at 6 p.m.

• Brady Deaton, former chancellor of the University Missouri-Columbia and chair of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development. Deaton received a bachelor's degree from UK in agricultural economics in 1966 before going on to establish an accomplished career in both international education and agriculture. Read more about Deaton at http://uknow.uky.edu/content/kentucky-native-uk-alum-deaton-receive-honorary-degree.
   
• Don Jacobs, co-founder of the Don Jacobs Organization — one of Central Kentucky's largest family-owned car dealerships. Jacobs and his wife Cathy have served as leading donors for many university projects. The couple established the Don and Cathy Jacobs Health Education Center at the new Pavilion A in the Albert B. Chandler Hospital and are major supporters of the Markey Cancer Center and the College of Medicine. The couple is also funding the Don and Cathy Jacobs Executive Education Center as part of the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics capital campaign. Read more about Jacobs at http://uknow.uky.edu/content/uk-benefactor-don-jacobs-receive-honorary-degree

Receptions

• College of Design: Friday, Dec. 19, 3:30-5 p.m.: Pence Hall, Room 207
• Graduate School: Friday, Dec. 19, 3-5 p.m.: Singletary Center Lobby
• UK Alumni Association Open House: Friday, Dec. 19, noon-6 p.m.: King Alumni House

Watch the live stream

Friends and family of graduates who cannot make it to Lexington do not have to miss out on this special event. UK is utilizing social media and other technology to bring Commencement directly to one’s computer or mobile device.

Both Commencement Ceremonies will be live streamed here.

Followers of UK’s Twitter account (twitter.com/universityofky) can follow along with the Commencement activities via live tweets prior to and during the event. Social media users are also encouraged to use the hashtag #ukgrad to honor the graduates.

The ceremonies will be available to watch on the university’s YouTube channel within a few weeks following Commencement at www.youtube.com/universityofkentucky.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Jenny Wells, 859-257-5343; jenny.wells@uky.edu or Sarah Geegan, 859-257-5365; sarah.geegan@uky.edu