Like birthdays, every graduation ceremony is special for the people celebrating. But today's commencement ceremonies at USF will be extra special, as they're the university's 100th commencement convocation.
About 1,500 students from across the USF system will receive their degrees in a pair of ceremonies taking place at the USF Sun Dome.
Graduates of all colleges from USF St. Petersburg and the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Business on the Tampa campus will be honored at 9 a.m.
The 1:30 p.m. ceremony will recognize graduates from all USF Sarasota-Manatee colleges and from the remaining colleges on the USF Tampa campus.
Since many of the students are double majors, 2,840 degrees will be conferred. That includes 1,863 bachelor’s, 811 master’s, and 166 doctoral and specialist degrees.
The youngest graduate (no name was released) is 19 and is receiving a bachelor’s degree in nursing, while the oldest is 64-year-old Rosalie Van Skyhawk, who is receiving a master’s degree in public health. Van Skyhawk was motivated to return to school in hopes of helping patients with aging issues.
Also receiving a degree is Nicole Johnson, Miss America 1999. The first graduate of USF’s Doctor of Public Health program is Executive Director of USF Health’s Bringing Science Home program.
