UTRGV students prepare for spring graduation
Commencement this spring will accommodate more than 2,000 graduating students by hosting three ceremonies in Edinburg and one in Brownsville, according to a university official.
The Edinburg ceremonies will take place May 12 in the Bert Ogden Arena. Students in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Education and P-16 Integration and College of Health Professions will walk the stage starting at 9 a.m.
The ceremonies for the Mathematics and Science Academy, School of Social Work and College of Liberal Arts will start at 1 p.m. and the School of Medicine (Bioethics), School of Nursing, College of Fine Arts, College of Sciences and the Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship will take place at 5 p.m.
For the Brownsville campus, the ceremony for all colleges will take place at 10 a.m. May 13 on the University Library lawn.
For those who may not be able to attend the ceremony in person, the event will also be livestreamed.
Brownsville students will not need tickets for family and friends to attend as seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Edinburg students will be provided eight tickets per student due to the indoor seating capacity.
“Our guests in Edinburg will require tickets regardless of age,” University Registrar Sofia Almeda said. “We like to say that because it’s really important, it’s for capacity issues and fire marshal regulations. So, absolutely all guests, regardless of age, will need tickets. And in Brownsville, the number of guests permitted is unlimited.”
Bag regulations must be adhered to for both campus ceremonies, however, the regulations in Edinburg may be different due to the Bert Ogden Arena having its own regulations that must be followed, Almeda said.
Students must have commencement regalia in order to participate in the ceremonies.
“If they’ve not already ordered that, they absolutely should do that throughCampus Stores,” Almeda said.
Friday is the deadline to RSVP for the commencement ceremony.
Daphne Alcala Zuniga, a biochemistry and molecular biology master’s student graduating this semester, is excited to finally attend commencement.
“It’s exciting because I graduated with my bachelor’s Spring 2020 so we didn’t get to walk at all,” Zuniga said. “So, my family is excited because I’m walking, and they get to see me with a gown and everything.”
She said the Brownsville ceremony is nicer but worries about the unpredictable weather since it will be outside.
“Here, we don’t have as much restriction for the tickets and stuff, so that’s also a plus,” Zuniga said.
She said she was also sad that they had moved the ceremony to the Main Library lawn when it used to be on the Student Union lawn.
Anthropology senior Tien Mata is excited about graduating but is also worried about the next step after graduation.
“I don’t really have a plan of action,” Mata said. “UTRGV has got some pretty good career tools but, like, for my major, it’s kind of like, really, thinking-based and, like, research-based. So, it’s a little bit harder for me to know what I would be able to do with it in a job.”
Information about the commencement ceremonies, such as parking, tickets, ceremony times and expected arrival times, will be communicated to students via their UTRGV email addresses.
“It’s really important in the weeks leading up to commencement that students stay on top of their email,” Almeda said. “That’s one of the most important pieces of advice we can give students.”
