56³Ô¹ÏÍø celebrates its 25th graduating class with biggest commencement

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News Release
May 26, 2016
Contact Lisa Hall 425-352-5461 / lhall7@uw.edu

56³Ô¹ÏÍø celebrates its 25th graduating class with biggest commencement

BOTHELL, Washington – The 56³Ô¹ÏÍø celebrates its 25th graduating class with the biggest commencement exercise in the University’s history.

About 1,300 of the 1,800 spring grads are participating in the ceremony June 12 at 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Seattle’s Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell’s first formal commencement ceremony in 1992 included 26 graduates.

Noted author, poet and screenwriter Sherman Alexie will deliver the commencement address. His most recent book is a children’s picture book, “Thunder Boy Jr.”

Notable facts about the 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell Class of 2016:

Including these graduates, 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell now has nearly 17,000 alumni.

Graduates range in age from 19 to 67 and hail from 19 different nations in addition to the USA.

Pell recipients – 529 students were recipients of the federal grants for low-income students (34 percent).

First generation – 374 are the first in their family to earn a four-year degree (24 percent).

Marine Corps veteran Brad Lakey received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award to teach next year in Peru.

Five graduates were selected as part of the Husky 100, a recognition across all three University of Washington campuses for student leaders who make a difference on campus and in the community.

With an anticipated fall enrollment of more than 5,400, 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell has grown more quickly over the past five years than any public university in the state.

About 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell: Ranked No. 1 in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest on Money magazine’s list of best colleges, 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell provides access to an exceptional University of Washington education for students of tremendous potential. Offering more than 45 undergraduate and graduate degrees, options, certificates and concentrations, 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell builds regional partnerships, inspires change, creates knowledge, shares discoveries and prepares students for leadership in the state of Washington and beyond.

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