By Daniel Perez
UTEP News Service
Make Plans: UTEP will hold one Commencement ceremony at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at Sun Bowl Stadium. Approximately 100 doctoral candidates will be hooded at 3 p.m. Friday, May 16, at Magoffin Auditorium.
Like a director setting the scene, The University of Texas at El Paso’s Student Government Association President Paulina Lopez envisioned the special moments that would make up her graduation ceremony in less than two months.
“This is going to be a milestone,” Lopez said. “For many of (the graduates), this will be the fulfillment of a dream. This will be social mobility coming true. Just to see the Sun Bowl full of people will be something. I can imagine the energy. It will be so emotional.”
The senior organizational and corporate communication major had just finished several interviews in English and Spanish during a morning press conference attended by UTEP students, faculty and staff, and local media.
During the media event, University President Diana Natalicio announced the University would hold one Commencement at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 17, in the Sun Bowl Stadium.
The University usually separates the colleges into three ceremonies in the Don Haskins Center, but decided to hold a single event to honor its Centennial. The last time UTEP used the Sun Bowl for graduation was in 1998, when the campus celebrated its 100th Commencement.
An estimated 2,000 to 2,500 graduation candidates will be eligible to participate this spring.
President Natalicio expressed the University’s excitement about the nontraditional event that could draw more than 25,000 well-wishers to the stadium. Graduates will receive a special diploma, and the ceremony will conclude with a fireworks display.
“What’s important to us is to not lose the personal touch of a UTEP graduation,” President Natalicio said. “One of the things that we pride ourselves on is that every single graduate is recognized by name and gets an opportunity to shake hands with the dean and with me, and gets a personal acknowledgement. It’s really important that we continue the tradition of recognizing every single graduate. The reason there are so many people – family members and friends in the stands – is because this is a major milestone in the lives of our graduates and their families.”
President Natalicio finished her remarks by presenting the first Centennial Commencement medallion to Lopez, as a representative of all students who would graduate this spring.
Lopez, who celebrated her birthday the same day as the press conference, also was serenaded with an impromptu rendition of “Happy Birthday” led by President Natalicio and Richard Daniel, Ph.D., associate vice president for university advancement and special projects.
Daniel is among the UTEP administrators tasked with developing the spring Commencement. He said organizers will deliver a streamlined ceremony that builds anticipation, maintains a high level of energy, and keeps graduates and guests comfortable outdoors and engaged using social media.
Beto Lopez, assistant vice president for institutional advancement, said one difference from past ceremonies is that the hooding of the doctoral candidates will be held at 3 p.m. Friday, May 16, at Magoffin Auditorium. About 100 candidates are expected to participate.
Graduating in the Sun Bowl will be special, said Thomas Korner, a senior history major, as he stood in line to purchase his “medallion package” – a cap and gown, Centennial medallion, coffee mug and orange alumni T-shirt – at Grad Fair 2014, a one-stop shop where students could buy graduation-related items outside the de Wetter Center. For graduates who could not attend Grad Fair, items can still be ordered through the University Bookstore.
Korner, whose 2006 graduation from El Paso’s Franklin High School was at the Don Haskins Center, said he expects this commencement to be a lot bigger.
“This isn’t something you do every day,” he said. “It’ll be unique, but my hope is that it’ll be fun.”
Ana-Cristina Urias, a student assistant in the Office of University Relations, answered Commencement questions at the Grad Fair. She advised candidates to wear comfortable clothes and practical shoes because the candidates will check in at the Don Haskins Center before making the 10-minute walk to the stadium, where they will enter through the south tunnel and be seated according to their college.
The University also is working on special plans for its 2014 Winter Commencement, which will be held Saturday, Dec. 13.