Commencement ceremonies for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga begins this week—and for the first time since the May 2019 event, McKenzie Arena will be filled to the rafters.
Restrictions that had previously applied to UTC commencement—first going virtual due to COVID-19; then limited when returning to an in-person format due to pandemic and public health restrictions; and finally limited seating capacity because of McKenzie Arena renovations—have been lifted.
Provost Jerold Hale
“Over the last few years, I have challenged the crowd to make it sound like there were nearly 10,000 people in McKenzie Arena. This time, there are going to be nearly 10,000 people in the arena. So it’s going to be fun to hear what commencement sounds like with all the sights and sounds that go along with it,” UTC Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Jerold L. Hale said.
Graduate School commencement takes place at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 3. Dr. Edna Varner, a UC Foundation Board of Trustee and longtime member of the Public Education Foundation, will deliver the graduation charge.
Two undergraduate commencement ceremonies will take place on Saturday, May 4.
The College of Arts and Sciences/College of Engineering and Computer Science ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. The Gary W. Rollins College of Business/College of Health, Education and Professional Studies ceremony starts at 1 p.m.
The featured speaker for both undergraduate ceremonies is UTC alumnus Richard Zhang, who graduated summa cum laude in 1992 with bachelor’s degrees in chemistry, economics and accounting.
Among the UTC students being celebrated this week:
- Nina Klimenkova and Arsen Martyshchuk, recipients of UTC Global Response Assistantship scholarships, will be receiving master’s degrees. Before they say goodbye to UTC, the two reflect about their journey from Ukraine and their shared time in Chattanooga.
- Triple major Jannat Saeed, who will be receiving bachelor’s degrees in history, humanities: international studies and software systems—as well as being a Brock Scholar in the UTC Honors College.
- Nehemiah Antoine, a chemistry major and Innovations in Honors member, talks about his career path toward medicinal chemistry research.
More than 1,300 undergraduates and nearly 300 graduate students will receive their degrees. Those numbers include approximately 250 first-generation college students and 90 military-affiliated students (consisting of veterans, spouses and dependents).
“I’m really excited about seeing the arena packed with people again; it’s going to be a special environment,” Hale said. “Commencement is always one of my favorite times of the year. It’s the culmination of student achievements—and faculty members, parents and guests can take pride in what the students have done.
“It’s going to be nice to be able to accompany their achievements with all the pomp and circumstance they deserve.”
Traditions of UTC commencements past, including processionals for graduates, faculty and gonfalons—ceremonial banners representing each of the University’s colleges—will be part of the proceedings.
“Over the last few commencements, we tried to maintain elements of the usual process where we could, but we were missing out on a lot,” Hale said. “I don’t think any of us will forget what we went through in 2020 and started coming out of in 2021 and beyond, but I’m hoping that a full arena will ease whatever bad memories people have from that period of time and leave them with really good ones.”
Hale came to UTC in June 2019. He officiated December’s fall commencement—which traditionally has significantly fewer graduates than in the spring; three months later, the pandemic reached Chattanooga.
Many of this year’s graduating seniors began their time at UTC in fall 2020 and did not participate in a traditional high school graduation ceremony due to the pandemic. Upon arriving at the University, a high percentage of classes were being held either virtually or in restricted fashions, and masks were required.
“For this group of graduates, I think what they went through is unlike what any other generation of students has had to go through. To me, that’s what will make this special,” Hale said.
“Not only did they go through things that no one has ever had to go through before, but they did it with excellence. This is a time to celebrate their remarkable persistence and hard work.”
This will be the 263rd overall commencement for the University, founded in 1886 as the then-private Chattanooga University. The first UTC graduation ceremony took place on Aug. 23, 1969, at the Tivoli Theatre in downtown Chattanooga.
Photos by Angela Foster/UTC