Grad Profiles Highlight Journeys that Span Decades and Great Distances

By Mary Dempsey

December 14, 2023

Commencement |
News

University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) President Gregory Fowler frequently notes with pride that the university has students enrolled from locations around the world. As proof, this year’s winter commencement includes a student who took classes from one of the most far-flung places on the planet: a research base in Antarctica.

Mark Driscoll, who speaks with awe about the constellation-studded skies he saw while in Antarctica, joins nearly 8,400 other graduates who have completed their virtual degree programs while studying from across the United States, in several U.S. territories and in 24 countries. From Dec. 15-17, more than 2,100 of those graduates will receive their diplomas at t ��’s winter Grad Walk event at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in College Park, Maryland.

University officials will convey 4,781 bachelor’s degrees, 2,137 master’s degrees and 1,415 associate degrees. In addition, 25 doctoral candidates will receive diplomas.

“This is an amazing graduation class filled with students who are embracing the power of education to change their lives and the futures of their families,” said Fowler. “Grad Walk is the joyful embodiment of how UMGC helps to transform lives, one learner at a time.”

The oldest graduating student this year will receive her Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems less than two weeks before she celebrates her 76^th birthday. The youngest grad, at 16, has completed the requirements for an Associate of Arts in General Studies. The commencement student speaker, Denise Henderson, had been out of the classroom for more than 30 years when she enrolled at t �� to earn a B.A. in Communications.

Among the graduates are also 12 “#UMGCgrad Social Media Ambassadors.” These are students who have used social media to spread the word about the commencement activities and standout graduates to the 290,000 members of UMGC’s alumni network and beyond.

While other higher education institutions ask for quiet as their students walk en masse across graduation stages, UMCG has embraced a more personalized—and celebratory—stateside graduation event. One-by-one, UMGC graduates step onto a stage—sometimes with family members beside them—to shouts and cheers from a camera-wielding audience. Professional photographers are on site to take individual portraits as each graduate crosses the stage and afterward. Each graduate also receives a video clip of the moment they receive their diploma.

As he has done in the past, Fowler will walk through the throngs to congratulate students individually and even join in photos with the grads and their families. An estimated 12,000 family members are expected take part in the Grad Walk celebrations.

“These students—most of them adult learners and many of them military servicemembers—have worked hard for their degrees, often through difficult life experiences, including health challenges, family relocations, military deployments and even the deaths of loved ones,” said Fowler. “This is our chance to celebrate and shout-out our encouragement as they look to the future.”

Not only does UMGC’s Grad Walk invite noisemaking, but Grad Walk venue includes a “Celebration Zone” where students can have cap-and-gown photos taken against various backdrops, leave messages for classmates and professors and acquire UMGC logo apparel.

In addition to Henderson’s speech and the performance of a student singer, remarks from University System of Maryland Board of Regents Chair Linda Gooden and Maryland Governor Wes Moore will be available at an that includes a live stream of the Grad Walk stage and a “Gallery of Graduates” showcasing graduates’ personalized recognition slides that can be shared via social media or e-mail.

Click on the link to the compelling story of a selection of graduates below as their profiles are posted on the UMGC Global Media Center over the next several weeks: