By Katy Bennett
On Friday, Dec. 16, UK students will trade their winter coats and gloves for caps and gowns as the University holds its December Commencement to honor students who earned their degrees in August or December. Graduate and professional degrees will be conferred at 1:30 p.m. Undergraduate degrees will be conferred at 6 p.m.; both ceremonies will take place in Memorial Coliseum.
More than 500 undergraduates and 100 graduate and professional students are expected to participate in this Friday’s exercises.
UK President Eli Capilouto will deliver his first Commencement address at both ceremonies. In addition to his remarks, and keeping with university tradition, a student will address the crowd at the undergraduate ceremony. Kristina Betsworth, a graduating senior from Frankfort, Ky., is the December Commencement student speaker. The broadcast journalism major is a graduate of Franklin County High School and is involved on campus as a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, serves as an ambassador for the College of Communications and Information Studies, works as a UK 101 peer instructor and has interned and worked with several local media outlets.
Betsworth, along with her peers, will be honored and their names announced as they walk across the stage and shake hands with the president and dean of their college. During each ceremony, the student's video image, name and major will be displayed on a screen above the stage. Doctoral hoodings will be held during the graduate ceremony.
Friends and family of graduates who cannot make it to Lexington do not have to miss out on this special event. UK is utilizing social media and other technology to bring Commencement directly to one’s computer or mobile device.
Both the Graduate and Professional Students and Undergraduate Commencement ceremonies will be live-streamed online at www.uky.edu/uknow, the university’s daily news website. Fifteen minutes prior to each ceremony's start, “Live from the Big Blue Carpet” will air and feature students, faculty and special guests as they prepare for Commencement and will be hosted by students from the School of Journalism’s broadcast journalism program.
The graduate and professional student ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m., with the preshow starting at 1:15 p.m. The undergraduate ceremony begins at 6 p.m., with the preshow beginning at 5:45 p.m. Both ceremonies will be carried live on UK's Insight Cable channel 16.
Followers of UK’s Twitter account (twitter.com/universityofky) can follow along with the Commencement activities via live tweets prior to and during the event. Twitter users are also encouraged to use the hashtag #ukgrad to honor all our graduates.
Graduates can view the ceremony beginning Dec. 21 on the university’s YouTube site at www.youtube.com/universityofkentucky.