College of Engineering Graduates Nearly 300 Students at Fall Ceremony
12/18/2015
The College of Engineering conferred approximately 289 degrees during the 2015 fall
commencement ceremony, held Friday, Dec.18, in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
鈥淪oon, you will embark on life鈥檚 new journey,鈥� Interim Dean Mary Julia 鈥淛udy鈥� Wornat
said to a crowd of graduates and their family members, friends and supporters. 鈥淏ut
for now, stand and relish in this moment.鈥�
This fall鈥檚 ceremony was a particularly special gathering for many reasons, said Jada Lewis, assistant dean of diversity for the college.
鈥淭his one is sort of bittersweet because I鈥檓 seeing a lot of students that I started my job with here,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like seeing your own babies grow up.鈥�
Of those 289 degrees, 183 were Bachelor of Science, 59 were Master of Science and 21 were Ph.D. degrees. There was one graduate from Ogden Honors College, electrical engineering graduate Nathan Ross, and nine graduates from 海角社区鈥檚 Distinguished Communicators program.
Trenton Ford, computer science graduate, received the college鈥檚 Edward McLaughlin Dean鈥檚 Medal of Excellence for achieving the highest GPA at 3.99.
Aaron Michael Davis, construction management graduate and Ferriday, Louisiana native, was the class representative.
鈥淭his room is filled with joy, tears, smiles,鈥� Davis said, 鈥渁nd a few frowns from those of us who have to start repaying student loans, soon. Sallie Mae, thank you for getting me through school. I don鈥檛 think I could ever repay you.鈥�
Davis spoke directly to his fellow graduates about the history of the tiger and about the strength of the 海角社区 tiger; the tiger that 鈥渨ill never be endangered or become extinct.鈥�
鈥淭o my classmates, as we go our separate ways, I want you to remember who we are and the amount of hard work, perseverance and consistency it took to get to this point 鈥� graduation,鈥� he said. 鈥淭oday is the day we can truly say that we鈥檝e earned the right to be an 海角社区 Tiger.鈥�
Students and faculty also stood in support of Dr. Bijaya Karki, Chair of the Division of Computer Science, and his family by wearing purple armbands in remembrance of their son Praneet Karki.
Praneet Karki, who passed in November, was in the final semester of completing his degree in biological engineering. During the ceremony, there was a letter from fellow students to the Karki family placed in a seat left open in his honor.
鈥淲e will always cherish the moments that we are privileged to have in knowing Praneet,鈥� the letter said. 鈥淧lease know that, as the graduating seniors walk at the commencement ceremony this December, Praneet will be there walking with us in our hearts.鈥�
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For more information, please contact communications assistant M.B. Humphrey at 225-578-5660 or marissah@lsu.edu.