Photo courtesy of Valari Esposito
Winter graduates sit in Lawlor Events Center on Saturday, Dec. 8. The university handed out over 1,000 degrees during winter commencement.

The University of Nevada, Reno, held the 2018 winter commencement ceremony to honor students who have met and graduated with the requirements of each of their respective colleges. The university issued more than 1,000 degrees at the ceremony to both graduate and undergraduate students on Saturday, Dec. 8, at Lawlor Events Center.

The Winter Commencement included August and December graduates and issued 1,864 degrees and certificates, consisting of 1,466 bachelor’s degrees and 398 advanced degrees. Advanced degrees consisted of both masters and doctoral degrees.

Due to an increased number of students who applied to graduate, the university held two separate ceremonies based on college and class size.

Nevada State Supreme Court Justice James Hardesty, a Nevada alumni, was invited to be the keynote speaker of both ceremonies. Hardesty was President of the Associated Students of the University of Nevada during the 1969-1970 school year and was named outstanding senior graduate.  

The first ceremony consisted of the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources, School of Community Health Sciences, Division of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, College of Education, College of Engineering, Orvis School of Nursing and the College of Science. The first ceremony began at 8:00 a.m.

The second commencement began at 1:00 p.m. The Reynolds School of Journalism, College of Business, and the College of Liberal Arts were a part of the second ceremony.

The university live streamed both of the ceremonies for family members who were unable to attend.

According to Sariah Tillotson of the university’s Admissions and Records Office, numbers collected for graduation were done in November and official numbers of graduates and degrees awarded will not be available until late January or early February. Numbers collected for graduation can be found through the Office of Institutional Analysis after they become available.

Andrew Mendez can be reached at oali@sageebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.