Watch Live as UK Celebrates December Graduates
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 20, 2019) — Today, the University of Kentucky will honor its Fall 2019 graduates at the December 2019 Commencement Ceremonies.
The two ceremonies will begin 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. EST today in Rupp Arena. Both ceremonies will be livestreamed on the university's YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/IiGmgAyStYo.
- 10 a.m.: College of Agriculture, Food and Environment; College of Education; College of Engineering; College of Fine Arts; College of Medicine; College of Social Work; College of Public Health; College of Pharmacy; Martin School of Public Policy and Administration; Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce
- 3 p.m.: College of Arts and Sciences; Gatton College of Business and Economics; College of Communication and Information; College of Design; College of Health Sciences; College of Nursing
More than 1,000 students are expected to attend Friday's ceremonies; overall, approximately 1,800 total degrees have been approved by the UK Board of Trustees. August 2019 degree recipients are also eligible to participate in the December ceremonies. More than 900 degrees were conferred for August.
Doctoral, master's and baccalaureate degree recipients are recognized together based on their colleges.
Parking
Due to construction around Rupp Arena and Lexington Center, parking and entry information is limited. Graduates and their guests should arrive at least one hour before the start of their ceremony. View a parking map here.
Honorary degree
An honorary degree will be presented at the 10 a.m. ceremony to Porter "P.G." Peeples, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Lexington. Peeples is a 1968 graduate of UK — one of the few African American students to enroll and graduate at that time. The following year, at the age of 22, Peeples was named the director of the new Urban League of Lexington, making him the youngest chapter director in the United States. He has dedicated his life to serving Lexington and its African American community through an over 50-year career of civil rights and social justice advocacy with the Urban League. Read more about Peeples.
Student speakers
In addition to UK President Eli Capilouto, a student representative will address the audience at each of the ceremonies, as per UK tradition. Daniel Beasley, from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, is graduating with a bachelor's degree from the College of Social Work. He will give the Commencement address at the 10 a.m. ceremony. Ndeye Matou Amar, from Senegal, West Africa, is graduating with a bachelor's degree in psychology from the College of Arts and Sciences. She will deliver the Commencement address at the 3 p.m. ceremony.
Graduate stories
While all graduates are celebrated for their tremendous achievements, many have particularly interesting stories to share about their lives and time at UK.
- Roger Dittert and his wife’s lives were turned upside down in July 2015 when they unexpectedly lost their unborn child due to pregnancy complications. This seemingly insurmountable loss accompanied by his inherent desire to help others left him with only one path — returning to UK to attend nursing school. As a result of the compassion and expert care Dittert and his wife received in their time of need, he now plans to pursue a career in obstetrics.
- A car accident left Rachel Centers, a kinesiology major from Jeffersonville, Kentucky, with a severe brain injury. Even years after the accident Centers still suffers from short-term memory loss, reduced speeds of cognitive processing and reaction time, fatigue, depression, sleep deprivation, loss of motivation and mood changes. However, Centers didn’t let those obstacles stop her from fulfilling her passion of earning a degree.
- Parisa ShamaeiZadeh, from Paintsville, Kentucky, grew up in two cultures — her mother is from Appalachia and her father is from Iran. As a dual citizen of both countries, she spent her childhood traveling back and forth between the two, and says seeing the challenges her father experienced due to his immigrant status is what drove her to pursue a career focusing on how culture affects health. Graduating with a human health sciences degree from the UK College of Health Sciences, she plans to pursue a career in medicine geared toward serving low income, migrant and refugee populations.
- Stuart Lichtenberg, a native of Morehead, Kentucky, is not your typical college graduate. He started taking classes at UK in 2002, leaving before completing his degree. The years following helped motivate him to return to school, determined to find his niche this time around. His newly discovered passion for agricultural biotechnology led him to not only complete his bachelor’s degree requirements, but also continue on to earn a Ph.D. His time in the lab studying next generation pesticides opened the door for his next adventure: tracking chronic wasting disease (CWD). Stuart Lichtenberg will graduate with a doctorate in integrated plant and soil science from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
For more information on Commencement, visit www.uky.edu/commencement/fallceremonies.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.