The University of Vermont’s 212th commencement ceremony will take place from 9 to 11 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 14, in the Athletic Complex Multipurpose Facility.
At this time there are no plans to cancel December commencement due to weather. Events will proceed as planned.
Major Jackson, Richard Dennis Green and Gold Professor of English at UVM and an award-winning poet, will deliver the commencement address to an expected 275 graduates. UVM president Tom Sullivan will also make remarks. The closing reflection will be delivered by David Rosowsky, UVM provost.
The December ceremony recognizes students who completed their coursework at the end of the summer or who will complete degree requirements at the end of the fall semester. Students may choose to participate in December commencement or return for the spring ceremony in May 2014. Students with questions about eligibility may contact their dean's office or the registrar's office.
Students, wearing academic regalia, will be recognized individually as they receive a diploma cover on stage; graduate students will be hooded on stage. Diplomas will be mailed in January after final grades are submitted and the Faculty Senate votes on the conferring of the degrees. Latin honors – cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude – will be awarded in May when all grades are tallied. Caps and gowns are available at the UVM Bookstore now, along with announcements. Photographs will be taken of each student upon crossing the stage.
Students are asked to line up for the ceremony in Patrick Gymnasium at 8:15 a.m., and faculty will line up in the Varsity Strength and Conditioning Room starting at 8:30 a.m.
Commencement parking is located on the Athletic Campus at the Gutterson Parking Garage near the Patrick Gym/Multipurpose Facility.
The ceremony will be webcast live by Vermont Public Television at http://live.vpt.org/uvm/uvm.html.
Major Jackson has published three volumes of poetry and won a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, a Whiting Writers' Award and the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. He was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry and has been honored by the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the Witter Bynner Foundation in conjunction with the Library of Congress.