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The University of Tampa will hold its  153rd commencement Friday, Dec. 17, at 9:30 a.m. at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall. The ceremony will include 1,063 graduates, including 718 bachelor’s degree candidates and 345 master’s degree candidates. The ceremony is free and open to the public. Masks are required indoors.

At Friday’s commencement, UT will award its first-ever doctoral degree. Krystene Menzies will receive a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. Menzies received her master’s at South University in 2015 and has been working full-time as a cardiology nurse practitioner while completing her doctorate at UT. She plans to venture into education, as she is passionate about teaching and molding future nurse practitioners.

“UT has been an exceptional facility – my experience has been wonderful, and I attribute my educational success to the whole team including my project chair,” said Menzies. “I’m incredibly proud to be a Spartan alum!”

As this is the first in-person commencement since December 2019, UT alumni who graduated in Spring 2020, Winter 2020 and Spring 2021 were invited to walk the stage. There will be 44 master’s degree alumni and 155 bachelor’s degree alumni participating in the ceremony.

Lonnie Bryant, chair of the finance department and professor of finance, is the speaker for the ceremony. Bryant is the recipient of the 2020-2021 Louise Loy Hunter Award, which is given annually to a UT faculty member for excellence in teaching and cumulative contributions in service and scholarship.

Natalie Jumaoas, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in biology with a pre-health concentration and a minor in leadership studies, will introduce the speaker and deliver the challenge to the graduating class.

In the days leading up to the ceremony, several departments will hold hooding ceremonies for their master’s degree candidates:

• Wednesday, Dec. 15:
  • College of Arts and Letters hooding ceremony, 6 p.m., Ferman Center for the Arts, Charlene A. Gordon Theater
• Thursday, Dec. 16:
  • Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance hooding ceremony, noon, Plant Hall, Music Room
  • Department of Nursing hooding and pinning ceremony, 1 p.m., Falk Theatre (by invitation only)
  • Physician Assistant Medicine Program Convocation Ceremony, 5 p.m., Falk Theatre
  • College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education hooding ceremony, 6 p.m., Ferman Center for the Arts, Charlene A. Gordon Theater
  • Sykes College of Business hooding ceremony, 7 p.m., Falk Theatre 

• College of Arts and Letters hooding ceremony, 6 p.m., Ferman Center for the Arts, Charlene A. Gordon Theater

• Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance hooding ceremony, noon, Plant Hall, Music Room
• Department of Nursing hooding and pinning ceremony, 1 p.m., Falk Theatre (by invitation only)
• Physician Assistant Medicine Program Convocation Ceremony, 5 p.m., Falk Theatre
• College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education hooding ceremony, 6 p.m., Ferman Center for the Arts, Charlene A. Gordon Theater
• Sykes College of Business hooding ceremony, 7 p.m., Falk Theatre 

Here are some statistics about UT’s 2021 graduating class.

UT Graduates by the Numbers:

Total graduates: 1,063
Countries represented: 9
Percent of graduates from Florida: 66

Undergraduate students
Total bachelor’s degree candidates: 718
Summa cum laude (GPA 4.0): 7
Magna cum laude (GPA 3.75 or higher, but less than 4.0): 90
Cum laude (GPA 3.5 or higher, but less than 3.75): 90
Top three most popular undergraduate majors in this class: finance, marketing, and criminology and criminal justice

Graduate students
Total master’s candidates: 345
With honors (GPA 3.9 or higher, but less than 4.0): 38
With highest honors (GPA 4.0): 43
MBAs awarded: 46