At UW-Eau Claire’s fall commencement ceremony on Dec. 16, 682 students will walk the stage. But that won’t be the only place you’ll find students participating in the ceremony.
You’ll find them as seat ushers, selling flowers and teddy bears to families outside and even performing music during the ceremony. One example is Henry Malueg, an applied voice teaching student who will be performing the alma mater at the end of the morning ceremony.
“Out of all the ways I could’ve ended my time as an undergrad here at UWEC, not only walking at commencement but singing the Alma Mater as well, is the best way to go,” Malueg said.
There are two commencement ceremonies: one at 9 a.m. and the other at 1:30 p.m. Graduates are expected to gather in Hibbard Humanities Hall an hour before the ceremony to line up alphabetically and receive any accolades they’ll be walking with. Programs are available online at the UW-Eau Claire website.
Each of the ceremonies will be generally the same aside from different student performers and which students will be walking. The College of Arts and Sciences and College of Nursing and Health Sciences will be at the morning ceremony and the College of Business and the College of Education and Human Sciences will be in the afternoon.
The two student speakers who will also be graduating at the ceremony, Heng Jin Ying and Megan Gosian will be giving the “BluGold Reflections” speeches this year. They were selected in late November after a committee review of all submissions to the annual competition in which students submit manuscripts reflecting on their memories and time as a BluGold.
This year, attendance of friends and family will be limited through remote viewing, available in the Woodland Theatre of Davies Student Center.
In order to enter Zorn Arena, all attendees must have one of the six tickets given to each student. Graduates can pick tickets up at the UW-Eau Claire Service Center in the Davies, or the Commencement Office in Schofield Hall for accessible seating.
Just outside the Commencement Office, a cap decorating space will be available from Dec. 11-15 to inspire students to individualize and put personal meaning into their commencement garb. Students are encouraged by the university to visit this space to add something special to their graduation cap.
“This is their celebration, this is their commencement and what makes it meaningful for them is what’s important,” commencement coordinator Corry Mahnke said.
Doors open an hour and 15 minutes before the ceremony begins, and AMP parking will not be enforced on campus for the day. In order to discourage crowding, attendees are encouraged to meet up with their graduates somewhere around campus after the ceremony has finished.
Pawlisch can be reached at [email protected].
