BATON ROUGE – LSU recognized 1,729 graduates at the university’s 288th commencement exercises on campus Friday, Dec. 18.LSU’s fall graduating class included the most degrees awarded to African American and Hispanic students during any fall semester.
The 1,729 graduates included 1,285 bachelor’s degrees, 3,337 master’s and professional degrees or certificates and 107 doctoral degrees.The graduates represented 54 Louisiana parishes, 41 states and 48 foreign countries. Fifty-two percent of the class were women, and 48 percent were men. The youngest graduate was 19, while the oldest was 70. Among the graduates were 16 LSU employees who received degrees.
A total of 204 degrees were awarded to African American students, up from the previous high of 180 degrees awarded during fall 2003. A total of 70 degrees were awarded to Hispanic students, up from the previous high of 61 in 2013. Sixty-five degrees were awarded to Asian students, the second most awarded at LSU’s fall commencement. Also of note, 51 veterans received degrees this semester – the highest number of degrees awarded to veterans in the last 15 years.
“LSU is constantly working to improve our student outcomes, and seeing consistent record-breaking numbers of diverse graduates means we are making strides and better serving our growing student body and its changing needs,” LSU President F. King Alexander said.
There is no main ceremony for December commencement, so each college held separate ceremonies to recognize their own individual students.
With each college holding their own ceremonies for fall commencement, some had keynote speakers, including:
· College of Engineering: Aaron Davis, construction management graduating senior from Ferriday, La.
· College of Agriculture: Lucien “Luke” Laborde Jr., president of College of Agriculture Alumni Association and Friends and former president of Willis of North Carolina
· Manship School of Mass Communication: Richard Gingras, senior director of news and social products for Google
· College of Art & Design: Kristin Sosnowsky, College of Music & Dramatic Arts executive associate dean and interim executive director of the LSU Museum of Art
· College of Science: James Lange, research scientist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta
The LSU Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College graduated six students who earned College Honors, two students who earned Upper Division Honors Distinction and one who earned Thesis Honors. These students participated in a specific honors program and successfully completed and defended an undergraduate thesis.
There were 102 honor graduates recognized during the ceremonies for having high GPAs and received magna cum laude, summa cum laude and cum laude honors. Also included among the honor graduates were nine University Medal recipients who graduated with the highest grade point average in the class. These nine students were also recognized at a special ceremony in the Recital Hall of the School of Music Building on Thursday, Dec. 17.
This semester, 14 graduates were awarded the LSU Distinguished Communicator Award. These students earned this honor by meeting high standards set by faculty in various colleges and by the LSU Communication across the Curriculum program. The students earned high grade-point averages in communication-intensive courses – based on written, spoken, visual and technological communication – and have built digital portfolios, displayed as public websites, that include their communication projects from courses, internships, leadership roles and public service.
Four graduates who took part in ROTC were commissioned as second lieutenants from the LSU Army ROTC program during a ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 17, in the Dalton J. Woods Auditorium in the Energy, Coast & Environment Building.
Four posthumous degrees were awarded to students who passed away before completing their studies. These included Pete Akuta, Bachelor of Science in petroleum engineering; Matthew Hollier, Master of Music degree; Anton Joe, Ph.D. in physics; and Ishita Maity, Master of Science degree in physics.
For more information on LSU commencement, visit www.lsu.edu/commencement.
Webster Parish graduates
E.J. OURSO COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
Bryce Owen Chandler, Minden
Carlos Rakim Glover, Springhill
Michael Harry Sanders, Jr., Minden
Tiffany K. Soto, Dubberly
COLLEGE OF HUMAN SCIENCES & EDUCATION
David Gregory Parks, Minden
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Brittany Sh’ree Patterson, Minden (Master’s)
Case Watkins, Minden (Doctorate)