The University of Louisiana at Lafayette conferred 353 degrees during its Summer 2023 Commencement on Friday at the Cajundome, marking the end of what officials characterize as a remarkable academic year.
Those 353 degrees represent a record – they match the most ever awarded during a summer Commencement. Among them are 199 bachelor’s degrees, 123 master’s degrees, seven graduate certificates, and 24 doctoral degrees – the most awarded in a summer semester.
Altogether, UL Lafayette awarded 3,225 degrees to its fall, spring and summer graduating classes. That total includes 732 master’s degrees and a record 98 doctoral degrees – the most awarded in an academic year.
In addition, 50 students earned undergraduate degrees while maintaining perfect 4.0 GPAs – which is also the most in an academic year. And, more students of Asian and Hispanic descent and members of other underrepresented groups earned graduate degrees than during any other year in University history.
Summer 2023 graduates represent 38 Louisiana parishes; 23 states and U.S. territories; and 17 countries. They also have earned their diplomas at a historic time – the University’s 125th birthday, which is this year, said Dr. Joseph Savoie, UL Lafayette president.
“Graduates, in a century and a quarter, over 146,000 individuals have sat where you are seated today – at the finish line of one extraordinary journey and at the start of another,” Savoie said.
“What’s to come remains largely unknown. It’s unwritten, undefined and undetermined. But that’s where opportunity lies. It’s an open road, not a closed track, that enables you and your curiosity to take hold, your imagination to take flight, and your dreams to become real,” he added.
The College of Education & Human Development’s Dr. Aimee Barber was the Commencement speaker. She is an assistant professor in the college’s Department of Educational Curriculum & Instruction.
Barber encouraged graduates to “allow yourselves today to feel proud of who you are and what you have accomplished. You have completed an important chapter of your important story.”
View a list of Summer 2023 graduates.
