Volunteer. Leadership. Service. Those three words were spoken many times on Friday as more than a thousand UT students walked across the commencement stage in Thompson-Boling Arena to receive their diplomas.
UT’s fall undergraduate commencement and graduate hooding ceremonies will be held December 12 and 13.
In commencement ceremonies last week, the university awarded 4,228 degrees.
At the 2019 Aloha Oe ceremony, graduating seniors received the Torch of Service, pledging to serve both the university and their communities as responsible and loyal alumni.
UT’s undergraduate commencement ceremony was filled with a series of special moments and a speech by Governor Bill Haslam.
UT’s undergraduate commencement and graduate hooding ceremonies will be held December 13 and 14. Governor Bill Haslam will address students during the undergraduate commencement ceremony on December 14.
Deidria Tankersley grew up dreaming about being a member of UT’s Pride of the Southland Band. Breast cancer threatened to derail her journey, but Tankersley marched on. Now, after three seasons with the Pride of the Southland, she is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in music.
Here is a gallery of photos from the 2018 Aloha Oe ceremony, which celebrates the accomplishments of graduating seniors.
Mustapha Williams fell in love with architecture while sketching the Nashville skyline as a middle school student. After five years at UT, coupled with a major scholarship award and study abroad trip, he has expanded his horizons—figuratively and literally. Williams, of Nashville, graduates Friday with a bachelor’s degree in architecture.
Senior Chet Guthrie is part curiosity seeker, part ghost hunter, and part thrill seeker—all with a video camera in hand. Guthrie, of Cleveland, Tennessee, graduates Saturday with a double major in journalism and forestry with a concentration in recreation management.
UT will welcome a lineup of commencement speakers that includes business leaders, an educator, an elected official, and an accomplished alumna who is a philanthropist, volunteer, social media celebrity, and wife of a country music star.
At commencement events around the country, college graduates are getting more than just their diplomas; they’re receiving inspiration and bits of advice from the speakers at their ceremonies.
