UConn Graduates More Than 4,000 (With Video)

The University of Connecticut conferred degrees on its first group of undergraduates in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, graduating about 1,500 students from across the state, country and world.

The commencement ceremony moved smoothly and briskly. Star student athletes Maya Moore and Kemba Walker led the procession of  CLAS students into Gampel Pavilion, followed by university faculty and staff. Only 90 minutes later the seniors had finished their undergraduate careers and were moving on to smaller celebrations and the next stage of their lives.

The group had to disperse from the center of campus before thousands more arrived to commence their graduation in the second such ceremony of the day.

Political Science Professor and Associate Dean Cyrus Ernesto Zirakzadeh, a last-minute replacement, gave the featured commencement address in which he encouraged graduates to reflect on their past and take the best of what they've learned with them as they leave the Storrs campus.

The address, called “Visions of Scholars,” and enjoyed by nearly all, focused on Zirakzadeh’s own upbringing and experiences in college at Michigan. He connected themes he found in his own history to the rows of students flanking him.

Zirakzadeh pointed out the visions being seen in the building as he spoke, as families and friends watched their loved ones reap the reward of undergraduate labor.

“Right now they probably think you’re the most splendid and lovely creatures they’ve ever seen,” he said, followed by a round of applause from the audience.

Zirakzadeh mentioned the importance of those scholastic labors as well.

“You are being recognized for something society values deeply,” he said.

Zirakzadeh told the new graduates they were more able to think deeply, eschew stereotypes, broaden their tastes, interpret information, change direction and explore new concepts.

“It’s important to branch out and get perspectives different from those you inherited,” he said.

As Zirakzadeh spoke to CLAS graduates at Gampel, more than 400 School of Engineering seniors assembled in Jorgenson Auditorium to receive degrees in a separate commencement ceremony.

Brian Schwab, a 2007 graduate of Ledyard High School, was UConn's top engineering graduate this year, with a grade point average of 3.999.  Schwab carried the school's engineering banner and led the processional into the auditorium.

Other 2011 UConn graduates from Gales Ferry and Ledyard receiving degrees this weekend were:

GALES FERRY

Jessica Leighton Brouwer, Jennifer M. Carroll, Christine Colella, Anna Marcoux Deneka, Charles Frederick Haase IV, Christopher Lee Hooper, Dayne Andrew Laskey, Margaret Lynn McCarthy, Kathleen Anne Muckenhirn, Kyle C. Nelson, Ryan Piggott O'Connell, Kaitlynn N. Richmond, Nathaniel George Salter, Laura Ann Servedio, Tara Marie Stockmon, Kelly Ann Sullivan, Annette Kae Viall, Heather Marie Wilbur, John Paul Yetter and Samantha Grace McCarthy.

LEDYARD

Brian John Albanese, Rebecca Krystyna Atkins, Natalie Ann Bajorin, Brittany Anne Banning, Joel Alan Burnett, Stephanie M. Frye, Stephen Arthur Hamel, Cory Michael Hollis, Benjamin David Jack, Nathan A. Krakue, Kimberly Michelle Mazzone, Jennifer Ann Pellowski and Amanda Lynn Tunucci.

Excited graduates displayed their exuberance with pictures, glitter and, in one instance, a plush dinosaur fastened to their mortarboards. Beach balls, a common site at the ceremony in past years, were not present but vociferous call-and-response cheers of “UConn! Huskies!” punctuated the event.

In addition to the UConn students receiving Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Gampel Pavilion on Sunday, more than 4,000 students officially completed various undergraduate and graduate programs at ceremonies across the state this weekend. They earned degrees in disciplines from fine arts and philosophy to forensic medicine, law and social work.

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