Four days of pomp and circumstance start today as over six thousand students across the University of South Florida system receive their diplomas.
USF Tampa will award 5,136 degrees: 3,878 Bachelors; 1,086 Masters; and 168 Doctoral and Specialists.
The Friday afternoon ceremony for the School of Social Sciences at USF Tampa not only was the first graduation of the spring semester, but was also the first official event at the newly renovated Sun Dome.
The Sun Dome will host four more ceremonies after that: members of the School of Humanities, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics graduate at 6 p.m. Friday night; the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences and College of Business hold their ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday and the Colleges of Education, Engineering, Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, the Arts and Undergraduate Studies graduating at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. There's also a 6 p.m. ceremony Saturday for graduates from all colleges.
There's also separate ceremonies for the College of Medicine and the Honors College.
USF Sarasota-Manatee's Spring Commencement is Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Manatee Convention Center in Palmetto.
260 students will graduate from USFSM: 30 Masters degree candidates from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, and Education; and 230 undergrads from Arts & Science, Business, Education and the School of Hotel & Restaurant Management. College of Business Alum Jason Krywko is scheduled to deliver the keynote address.
USF St. Petersburg is holding its 50th commencement on Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Pete. It's the largest graduating class in USFSP's history, with 460 total graduates: 383 receiving bachelor's degrees and 77 receiving Master's degrees.
Friday's Tampa Times profiled one of those USF St. Pete students graduating this weekend: 33 year old Mike Jernigan, who'll receive his bachelor of arts in history, lost his eyesight in a 2004 explosion while he served in the U.S. Marines in Iraq. His wife, Leslie, will also receive her BA in psychology.
And USF Lakeland wraps up commencement with a ceremony at 7 p.m. Monday in the Youkey Theater at the Lakeland Center.
