UC commencement one for the record books

Spring Commencement will mark the biggest graduating class in the history of the University of Cincinnati.

The university has set graduation records in three of the last four years. The new record is unlikely to last long as the university welcomed its largest incoming freshman class in 2017 only to break that record again last year.

UC will recognize 6,653 students for the spring 2019 Commencement, according to preliminary numbers from UC’s Office of Institutional Research. This tops last year’s 6,496 students, which itself was a record. The ceremonies will take place over three days at Fifth Third Arena starting Thursday at 2 p.m.

Among the graduates: 286 are receiving veterans benefits, 187 are from Cincinnati Public School  and 1,159 who are the first in their family ever to wear a college cap and gown.

The spring class hails from 75 countries, 49 states and the District of Columbia. About 71 percent of the graduates are Ohioans. And they come from 80 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

This week’s youngest graduate, earning an associate degree, is just 18. The oldest graduate, earning a master’s degree, is 75. The average age of the graduating class is 25. Another 39 students share their birthday over commencement. Happy Birthday!

Festivities begin 2 p.m. Thursday, May 2, with the master’s degree ceremony and doctoral hooding. UC will honor 1,322 graduates.

On Friday and Saturday, more than 3,800 undergraduate students will be honored on stage for their accomplishments across 13 of UC’s colleges. The UC College of Law graduation is scheduled for May 11.

Undergraduate Commencement begins at 9 a.m. Friday for the College-Conservatory of Music, the College of Engineering and Applied Science, the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing and the College of Allied Health Sciences.

Commencement continues 2 p.m. Friday for the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences and the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.

At 9 a.m. Saturday, Commencement continues for the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services; the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning; UC Blue Ash College and UC Clermont.

Doors to Fifth Third Arena open an hour before each ceremony.

While each graduate has a story of success to share, UC President Neville Pinto reserves special attention for those who exemplify the university’s ideals of scholarship, leadership, character and service as outlined in UC’s strategic direction, Next Lives Here.

Pinto honored eight graduates this year with a Presidential Leadership Medal for their accomplishments and contributions to society. 

They include: Rahul Sandella, a medical sciences major in UC’s College of Medicine; Rickey Terrell, a chemical engineering student in UC’s Honors program; Kendall Cappel, a Marvin P. Kolodzik Business Scholar; Mariam Elgafy, who will graduate from UC’s College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services; Andrew “Scottie” Emmert in the UC College of Medicine and Laura Stegner, who will graduate from UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. Each received the 2019 Presidential Leadership Medal of Excellence.

Sandella first came to UC for his high school science fair and felt right at home. He was accepted into a UC pre-med program for high ability, intellectually curious students, which provided mentorship from UC’s esteemed faculty. As a result, Sandell was able to work on research projects in a variety of disciplines. He served as president of UC’s South Asian American Student Association, where he helped organize campus events celebrating Indian culture. Last year, he was named king of UC’s Homecoming.

Emmert, a Barry Goldwater Scholar, volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative. He conducted gene-editing research to treat disease along with partners at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He co-founded the Medical Sciences Ambassadors Program to recruit undergraduates to the UC College of Medicine.

Terrell worked with UC’s Center of Community Engagement to develop a science fair for senior students studying engineering at Hughes STEM High School. He will continue his chemical engineering education at Stanford University later this year.

Cappel, a university honors student in UC’s Lindner College of Business, is graduating with two bachelor’s degrees in marketing and accounting. She studied abroad in England, Australia and France, despite a severe food allergy that can make travel tricky. She completed five co-ops and accepted a position this year at a Cincinnati professional services firm.

Elgafy served as a senior class officer and senator in UC’s Undergraduate Student Government. She has been recognized for her efforts to advocate for underrepresented groups on campus. Besides her volunteer activities as an Arabic tutor at the Orient Learning Academy Tutoring Center, she is an ice hockey instructor and teaches figure skating.

Stegner organized a new astronomy club at UC and joined UC’s Taekwondo team, helping them raise money for new equipment. She traveled abroad to South Korea and China. She participated in UC’s Joint Engineering Co-op Institute, a partnership between UC and Chongqing University in China. Stegner helped create the Engineering Diplomats, a group dedicated to welcoming Chinese students to campus through social gatherings and events.

Likewise, Caitlin Doyle, a doctoral student in English literature and creative writing in UC’s McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, and Courtney Giannini, who is earning both medical and doctoral degrees from the UC College of Medicine, were honored with UC’s 2019 Presidential Medal of Graduate Student Excellence.

Doyle was the recipient of several national literary awards and served as vice president of UC’s English Graduate Organization. Her work has been published in journals, anthologies and magazines. She is working on her debut poetry collection titled “The Blue Meridian,” which is the subject of her spring creative dissertation.

Giannini completed the medical scientist training program in UC’s College of Medicine. The program awards both a medical and a doctoral degree. She spent three years of graduate study in the Division of Epidemiology. Giannini contributed to a project to create a free health clinic to serve uninsured patients in Greater Cincinnati.

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