December

The moment we’ve all been waiting for … graduation

Everything you need to know about Fall Commencement, plus some fun facts about the graduating class.

By Dan Vaccaro

December 14, 2016

Fall commencement is this Friday, Dec. 16, and we’re celebrating the accomplishments of our most recent grads.

To offer graduates and their guests the most enjoyable experience, MSU Denver will again hold two ceremonies at the Denver Coliseum. The morning ceremony starts at 9 a.m. and honors students from the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the School of Education. The afternoon event begins at 2:30 p.m. and salutes students from the colleges of Business and Professional Studies.

Ariadna Ochoa Magallanes, the fall 2016 President’s Award recipient, will deliver the student address during the morning ceremony and Levi Appenfelder, the fall 2016 Provost’s Award recipient, will address the afternoon ceremony.

Here are some fun facts about this fall’s graduating class:

• A record-breaking 1,550 bachelor’s graduates will walk on Friday, a number that exceeds the 1,375 graduates from fall 2015.
• A total of 42 students completed master’s degrees: 22 in teaching and 20 in accountancy.
• The class includes 552 students of color, led by 322 Latino students.
• A record 22 ASSET students will graduate, up from 17 last fall.
• A whopping 39 percent of grads are first-generation students and 52 percent were Pell-eligible.
• Transfer students make up 67 percent of the class and veterans comprise 4 percent.
• The age range of the graduates spans many decades, from 18-year-old pre-nursing major Stephanie Martinez Escudero to 67-year-old speech communication major Denise Mavers.
• Consistent with national higher-education trends, women continue to outpace men, representing 57 percent of the graduates.
• The graduates’ top five majors in order are biology; psychology; criminal justice and criminology; management and individualized degrees.

If you can’t make it to the morning ceremony, you can follow the proceedings on our Snapchat account. Just search for our username: msudenver.

Additionally, you can watch a live stream of the morning and afternoon ceremonies here: msudenver.edu/commencement/webcast