SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4) — The University of Utah celebrated its largest graduating class in the school’s history Thursday.
This came just days after announcing the university broke a record with their enrollment for Fall. In the graduating class, there were 8,723 members of the class. This is the largest group of graduates since the school’s inception in 1850.
They celebrated these graduates in the university’s 154th General Commencement ceremony on Thursday evening at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
“Regardless of where your journey takes you next, you will be needed. Lean into the talents and education you have gained here at the U,” the University of Utah President Taylor Randall said. “Be an agent of change in your own life and the lives of others.”
The 154th general commencement was held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 4, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. In-person college convocations were held in the Alumni House, Huntsman Center, Kingsbury Hall, and Union Building on May 2-5. The Colleges of Law and Pharmacy will hold their ceremonies on May 12, and the Schools of Dentistry and Medicine will hold theirs on May 19.
This year’s student graduation speaker was Chloe Carr, who finished her bachelor’s of marketing in December and shared her perspective on her college career.
“In school, I was challenged beyond what I believed I was capable of and pushed out of my comfort zone into that space where I’ve been told growth happens,” Carr said. “As a result, my dreams got bigger and the doors that were once closed were kicked in. I was 1,000 miles away from everything I had ever known, and somehow, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.”
Chair of the Special Olympics International and Dignity Index Co-Creator Tim Shriver gave the keynote speech for commencement.
“I want to mirror back to the students that they are more beautiful than they possibly imagine and so are their brothers and sisters, even when they disagree,” Shriver said. “This country has a future, if they believe in it and if they make it. The education they have gotten here has prepared them for a life of compassion and dignity and service and courage. Don’t underestimate the power that has to bring you happiness and fulfillment.”
2023 Graduation Class Statistics
- 8,723 graduates
- 9,372 degrees (some graduates received more than one degree); 5,848 bachelor’s degrees; 2,537 master’s degrees; 670 doctoral degrees; 87 juris doctors; 128 doctors of medicine; 56 doctors of pharmacy; and 46 doctors of dentistry
- Students represented 26 Utah counties, 54 U.S. states and territories, and 62 foreign countries.
- 4,420 self-identified as women, 4,245 self-identified as men, and 58 students were nonbinary/unidentified
- 3.485 was the average undergraduate grade point average
- 25 was the average age of bachelor’s degree recipients; the youngest undergraduate was 18, and the oldest was 84
- 31 was the average age of students who received graduate degrees; the youngest was 21 and the oldest was 70
- The top 10 undergraduate majors were: psychology, communication, biology, computer science, health/kinesiology, finance, nursing, economics, games, political science
- 261 graduates received honors degrees
- 318 veterans received degrees
