UAF to host drive-in, virtual commencement ceremonies
April 28, 2021
Jeff Richardson
907-474-6284
The University of Alaska Fairbanks will honor the class of 2021 with drive-in and virtual ceremonies celebrating its 99th commencement on Saturday, May 1.
The university’s first commencement was in 1923, when the sole graduate, John Sexton Shanly, received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture. UAF will confer nearly 1,300 degrees to 1,222 students on Saturday. Some students will receive more than one degree. The ceremony will include graduates from summer and fall 2020 and spring 2021.
Because of COVID-19 precautions, UAF’s 2021 commencement activities will include a drive-in ceremony, a virtual online ceremony and a car parade.
The in-person, drive-in ceremony will begin at approximately 11 a.m. in the Patty Center parking area. The ticketed event is open to graduates who signed up ahead of the event and guests they bring in their car. It will be followed by a graduate car parade around the campus, which will begin approximately at noon. Friends and family of graduates, and members of the public, are welcome to cheer on graduates along the parade route.
Spectators should wear masks and stay 6 feet away from people they don't live with. Masks are required in all UAF buildings. Most campus facilities will be closed, but food is available to the public at Arctic Java in the Wood Center, and at Campus Cache for students and employees. The UAF Bookstore will be open from noon to 3 p.m., and the University of Alaska Museum of the North will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A virtual commencement ceremony will begin online at 4 p.m., and will include graduate slides, name readings and video messages. Links to the ceremony will be on the UAF Facebook and YouTube pages.
More information and a map of the parade route are available at www.uaf.edu/commence/.
The student speaker will be Ray Alda, who is graduating with a biology degree. She is also the recipient of the 2021 Marion Frances Boswell Memorial Award, which honors an outstanding bachelor’s degree candidate. Sheri Monica Nelson-Karikomi, graduating with her bachelor's degree in anthropology, is the recipient of the Gray S. Tilly Memorial Award, which recognizes an outstanding nontraditional graduating student.
Writer and historian Daniel T. O’Neill and engineer James W. Rooney will receive honorary doctoral degrees. Yup’ik elder and bilingual educator Esther Green, hockey advocate Scott Roselius and university arts advocate Kesler Woodward will be honored with UAF’s Meritorious Service Award.
Eighteen retiring and former faculty members have been granted emeritus status, a title given to those who have served the university with distinction for at least 10 years. They include Michael Castellini, professor of marine biology and dean of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences; G. Burns Cooper, professor of English (posthumous award); Kenneth Coyle, research associate professor of oceanography; Mary F. Ehrlander, professor of history and Arctic and northern studies; Gary Freitag, professor of fisheries; Christopher Hartman, associate professor of computer science; David Koester, professor of anthropology; Thomas B. Kuhn, professor of biochemistry and neuroscience; Charles Mayer, professor of electrical engineering and associate dean of the College of Engineering and Mines; Paul Metz, professor of geological engineering; Nicole Mölders, professor of atmospheric sciences; Rainier Newberry, professor of geology; Brenda Norcross, professor of fisheries; Brian O’Donoghue, professor of journalism; Robert Perkins, professor of civil engineering; Todd Radenbaugh, professor of environmental science (posthumous award); Julie Riley, professor of horticulture; and Curt A.L. Szuberla, associate professor of physics.
Class of 2021 profile
The following statistics provide a snapshot of the UAF 2021 graduating class. These are preliminary numbers, current as of April 21. Final statistics will not be available until September.
1,294 awards are expected to be conferred on 1,222 students:
- 37 occupational endorsements
- 169 certificates
- 251 associate degrees
- 554 bachelor’s degrees
- 204 master’s degrees
- 39 doctorates
- 40 recommendations for education licensure
Diversity breakdown:
- 701 women, 490 men and 32 other genders are graduating
- 184 Alaska Native/American Indian
- 43 Asian American
- 43 African American
- 103 Hispanic or Latino
- 124 other or unknown
- 42 international
- 672 Caucasian or white
- 12 Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
The average age in the class is 31, the median age is 28. The youngest graduate is 18 years old, with an occupational endorsement certificate as a nurse aide; the oldest graduate is 80, with a master’s degree in justice administration.
2021 schedule
The following is an approximate schedule for the day’s events:
9:30-10:20 a.m. — Graduates arrive on campus via Morris Thompson Drive for the drive-in ceremony. No through-traffic will be allowed on Tanana Loop in front of the Patty Center after 9:15 a.m.
11 a.m. — In-person drive-in ceremony will begin in the Patty Center parking area.
11:45 a.m. — Roads to campus will close for the parade. Spectators should be on campus no later than 11:30 a.m.
12 p.m. — Graduate car parade begins.
4 p.m. — Virtual commencement ceremony begins.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Contact Marmian Grimes at mlgrimes@alaska.edu for details about commencement coverage logistics. Press packets will be available for download on May 1 at http://bit.ly/uaf-press-