Published: April 26, 2016
UT to Hold Spring Commencement Saturday, May 7
The University of Tampa will honor more than 1,400 graduates at its 142nd commencement on Saturday, May 7. The ceremony will take place at Amalie Arena at 9:30 a.m. The 1,486 degree candidates include 1,208 bachelor’s degree candidates and 278 master’s degree candidates. The ceremony is free and open to the public.
The speaker for commencement is James MacLeod ’70, chairman and CEO of CoastalSouth Bancshares Inc., a bank holding company that through its subsidiary, CoastalStates Bank, offers personal and business banking services in five states. MacLeod helped found CoastalStates Bank in 2004, which is now the largest local bank in Beaufort County, SC.
Griffin Guinta ’16, a writing major from Bradenton, FL, will introduce the speaker. A magna cum laude graduate, Guinta served as editor-in-chief of UT’s student newspaper, The Minaret, co-founded UT’s first improvisational comedy group, Gluten-Free Improv, and was an active member of the President’s Leadership Fellows.
Matthew Hartford ’16, a criminology major from Georgetown, MA, will deliver the challenge to the graduating class. A cum laude graduate, Hartford served as the 2015-2016 Student Government vice president and has completed three internships with the Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Marshals Service and Massachusetts State Parole.
The Alumni Association will present two awards during the ceremony. MacLeod will receive the Esse Quam Videri Award, which is the highest award given by the association to a graduate of UT.
Jesse Klaucke ’11, M.S. ’13 will receive the Young Alumnus Award. Klaucke is a senior financial analyst at Mezrah Consulting. He has been a member of the UT Board of Counselors since 2013, and has used his knowledge and experience as a CPA to guest lecture undergraduate accounting classes and during UT’s Financial Literacy Week.
In the days leading up to the ceremony, several departments will hold hooding ceremonies for their master’s degree candidates:
- Thursday, May 5:
- Department of Education hooding ceremony, 6 p.m., Plant Hall Fletcher Lounge
- Friday, May 6:
- Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance hooding ceremony, 1 p.m., Martinez Athletics Center
- Department of Nursing hooding and pinning ceremony, 5 p.m., Falk Theater (by invitation only)
- Sykes College of Business hooding and awards ceremony, 6 p.m., Bob Martinez Athletics Center
UT Graduates by the Numbers
Total graduates = 1,486Countries represented = 68
% of graduates from Florida = 40
Undergraduates:
Total bachelor’s degree candidates = 1,208
Summa cum laude (GPA 4.0) = 6
Magna cum laude (GPA 3.75 or higher, but less than 4.0) = 80
Cum laude (GPA 3.5 or higher, but less than 3.75) = 173
Top 3 most popular undergraduate majors in this class = marketing, finance, advertising and public relations
Graduate students:
Total master’s candidates = 278
With honors (GPA 3.9 or higher, but less than 4.0) = 8
With highest honors (GPA 4.0) = 8
MBAs awarded = 122