More than 813 students will march across the stage to receive their degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 2016 winter commencement. The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, at Kachel Fieldhouse.
This year’s commencement speaker is Susan Huss-Lederman, UW-Whitewater professor of languages and literatures, who works to ensure that the educational experiences of her students stretch them and make them feel capable of learning anything. In 2016 she received the UW System Board of Regents Teaching Excellence Award. Huss-Lederman received a B.A. in social communication and German from Duquesne University, an M.A. in applied linguistics from Teachers College-Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in linguistics from Georgetown University.
The student speaker is Jacqueline Schaefer, a psychology major and resident of Cascade, Wisconsin, whose immersion in interdisciplinary learning at UW-Whitewater led to a job as a patient care specialist at Rogers Memorial Hospital and a decision to attend medical school and become a psychiatrist. As an undergraduate, she worked as a peer mentor and embarked upon a travel-study experience in Ecuador. Schaefer will be receiving a Bachelor of Science.
The ceremony will recognize 94 undergraduates from the College of Arts and Communication, 204 from the College of Business and Economics, 179 from the College of Education and Professional Studies and 257 from the College of Letters and Sciences. The School of Graduate Studies will award master’s degrees to 79 students.
The graduating class includes 14 international students, 26 military veterans, 149 nontraditional students and 51 self-identified students with disabilities.
Commencement will be broadcast live online by UWW-TV, the university television station.
