The University of Northern Colorado is graduating approximately 765 students on Dec. 8 – 9, at its fall 2023 commencement ceremonies. This fall's class continues the trend of an increasingly diverse student population and includes the largest number of graduates from the Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business in the past five years.

Overall, the largest graduating class are studentsearning bachelor’s degrees from the College of Natural and Health Sciences and the largest graduate class are students earning master’s, specialist or doctoral degrees fromthe College of Education and Behavioral Sciences.

Graduate Commencement will take place on Friday, Dec. 8, at 6 p.m., recognizing 296 students receiving a doctoral, specialist or master’s degree.  

Undergraduate Commencement consists of two ceremonies on Saturday, Dec. 9, recognizing 469 students receiving bachelor’s degrees. The ceremony for graduates of the Monfort College of Business, College of Natural and Health Sciences and the College of Performing and Visual Arts begins at 9 a.m. The ceremony for graduates of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences starts at 12:30 p.m.  

All ceremonies will be held at UNC’s Bank of Colorado Arena. Tickets are required for entry and are distributed to graduates electronically via their BearMail accounts. Guests must obtain tickets in advance of the ceremony as they are not available at the door. 

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The ceremonies can be viewed a number of different ways, including livestream via UNC’s website and social media platforms for family and friends watching from home. The university also offers live Spanish-language interpretation services and viewing spaces on campus for people who want a less crowded viewing space.  

 More information about tickets, parking locations and a campus map are available on UNC’s commencement website.   

About Our Fall Graduates 

• The university’s trend of an increasingly diverse student population is reflected in its fall 2023 graduating class: graduates identifying as Hispanic/Latinx is 24.9% and multiracial is 5.8%, the highest levels in the past five years. 
• The Monfort College of Business is celebrating its largest fall undergraduate class since fall 2019. The growth is driven primarily by Management and Marketing graduates as both are at their highest point in the past five years. 
• The fall 2023 class includes 204 undergraduate students (43.5%) who are the first in their families to earn a college degree.   
• Thirty-one of our graduates are United States veterans; eight undergraduate students and 23 graduate students.  
• The most popular major among fall undergraduate students is Business Administration (69), followed by Psychology (68), Nursing (52), Elementary Education (38) and Liberal Arts (34). 
• The most popular degree programs among fall graduate students are Special Education (50) and Business Administration (33), followed by Clinical Mental Health Counseling (28), Educational Psychology (27) and Theatre Education (18). 
• More undergraduate students completed degrees this fall in the following areas compared to the last five years: Biological Sciences (31), History (19) and Software Engineering (10), and the highest number of graduate degrees in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (28) and Theatre Education (18). 
• Our graduates come from 12 countries, 48 states and 36 Colorado counties.  
• Our youngest graduate is 20 years old and our oldest is 60.  
• The College of Natural and Health Sciences is graduating the largest number of undergraduate students (150), followed by the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences (135), College of Humanities and Social Sciences (101), Monfort College of Business (75) and College of Performing and Visual Arts (18).  
• The College of Education and Behavioral Sciences is graduating the largest number of graduate students (178), followed by the College of Performing and Visual Arts (40), the College of Natural and Health Sciences (39), Monfort College of Business (33), and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (6).  
• This year’s graduating class includes 45 students who were awarded an associate degree through the Colorado Re-Engaged (CORE) Initiative. The program enables students who stopped-out from pursuing a bachelor’s degree and earned at least 70 credit hours to receive an associate degree for their efforts.   

Data about UNC’s fall 2023 class is preliminary and based on demographics of students who have applied to graduate as of Nov. 29, 2023. Degrees are officially conferred in January 2024. 

Graduate Commencement Ceremony Student Speakers 

Yvette Jimenez is a Mexican-American first-generation graduate student from Lexington, Nebraska. She is graduating with a Master of Arts in School Counseling, having previously received her bachelor’s degree in Family Studies from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Jimenez is a member of the Chi Sigma Iota Honor Society and served as a graduate assistant/career counselor for the Center for Career Readiness throughout her graduate studies. After interning for Adams 12 school district, she now resides in Denver, where she works as a school counselor. Jimenez's passion for counseling is to help and serve underrepresented populations, and she plans to get her license as a professional counselor post-graduation. 

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Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Ann Lynn Parker graduated from Gallaudet University with a Bachelor of Arts in English. For a decade, she has taught deaf education to students ranging from middle school to college students. Parker currently works as an American Sign Language teacher at a public high school. She is married to Pastor James and together, they are involved with Hands of Grace Deaf Church in San Jose, California. They have three daughters and reside in the Bay Area in northern California. 

Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony Student Speakers 

Dana Cowper is graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Sport Administration and a minor in Business Administration. She moved to Colorado in 2019 with her husband after spending the majority of her life in New Jersey.Cowper is completing her degree later in life than expected, however, her journey has led her to find a new passion and motivation for sports and fitness. Her internships have helped her to define her post-graduation goals of working inthe triathlon industry for either USA Triathlon or the Ironman Corporation. Cowper is an avid endurance athlete.  

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Evette Srouji is a first-generation Arab American who was born and raised in Colorado. She will be graduating with a double major in Theatre Education and Theatre Studies with a Directing emphasis, and a minor in English. Throughout her time at UNC, she has found community and lifelong mentors and friends who have helped her find her career path. Srouji has been lucky to serve on multiple student group boards including: STAD Collective, Operation: Cheesecake and SOAPbox Productions. She also served as a member of Student Equity and Advisory Board for the School of Theatre Arts and Dance and was a Performing and Visual Arts lead ambassador. Following graduation, Srouji will be working at Curious Theatre Company and continue teaching theatre to younger generations.  

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Adriana Ibanez- Arroyo is graduating with a bachelor's degree in Historywith a Secondary Teaching concentration with a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse EducationEndorsement. As a first-generation college student, Ibanez-Arroyo’s academic journey has been filled with amazing people and programs that made her dream of attending college a reality. Throughout her undergraduate career, she fell in love with the Greeley community through various UNC programs. Ibanez-Arroyo became a member of Cumbres where sheestablished connections that led to job opportunities. As an undergraduate, she served as an interpreter for graduate programs such as Project L.I.F.E and the Treasure Chest Program, whichserve students in need of speech and language services. After graduation, Ibanez-Arroyo plans to work in Greeley in hopes of supporting multilingual and first-generation students as they navigate higher education.  

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Legend Todrick is a first-generation college student graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree and licensure in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Special Education. She is a member of five honors societies focusing on social and behavioral sciences, mathematics, English, business and political science. During her undergraduate career, Todrick served as a student judiciary member. Off-campus, she worked as a registered behavior technician, a STEM lab facilitator for Millikin Elementaryand a substitute teacher for Jeffco Schools and District 6. Todrick's long-term plan is to pursue a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Special Education Administration.