Graduation

On December 15, the University of Georgia Griffin campus held its’ Fall Graduation Celebration and Brick Ceremony for the 19 members of the Class of 2022. These students join nearly 700 other graduates who have completed their degrees at UGA Griffin since 2005.

Each student graduating from UGA Griffin is honored with a lasting mark on campus-a brick featuring their name and class year. The bricks are placed in the walkways around the Student Learning Center and will mark their time on the UGA Griffin campus for generations to come. This aspect is unique to the local campus and the brick laying ceremony is held directly after the graduation celebration in both the Fall and Spring semesters.

David Buntin, Interim Assistant Provost and Campus Director for UGA Griffin, opened up the commencement ceremony in the Stuckey Auditorium by praising the students for their perseverance the last two years throughout all the changes brough on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The last few semesters have been challenging with restrictions on our instruction and events, but you all persevered and were able to graduate,” said Buntin. “We are very pleased to celebrate your graduation with you and hold this Griffin campus ceremony today.”

The University of Georgia Griffin campus held its Spring Graduation Celebration and Brick Ceremony for 29 members of the Class of 2022 on May 12, representing all five colleges that offer degrees at UGA Griffin.  

Each student graduating from UGA Griffin is honored with a lasting mark on campus, a brick featuring their name and class year is installed in the walkways around the Student Learning Center. In previous years, graduates’ bricks were placed at the Naomi Chapman Woodroof Pavilion.

David Buntin, Interim Assistant Provost and Campus Director for UGA Griffin, told the graduates that the bricks will mark their time at UGA for generations to come, expressing hope that the bricks of future graduates will cover the walkways of the campus in the future.

At 54, Becky Griffin was the oldest University of Georgia student on the Griffin campus to be awarded a degree this fall, but that fact only fueled her drive to succeed.

After putting her graduate studies on hold for 30 years, Griffin juggled a full-time job and put thousands of miles on her car to complete her master’s degree. The mother of two adult daughters, both of whom are UGA graduates, Griffin was encouraged to finish her degree by Kris Braman, a former UGA Griffin researcher who now heads the UGA Department of Entomology.

“Deciding to go back to school after 30 years was a huge decision. When I told Dr. Kris Braman why I didn’t have a master’s degree, she said, ‘Well, we need to fix that.’ She encouraged me to apply, helped me map out a plan and served as my major professor throughout this process. She was the first person on my team,” Griffin said.

The University of Georgia Griffin Campus held the Fall Graduation Celebration and Brick Ceremony for the class of 2017 on Thursday, December 14, 2017 in the Stuckey Auditorium. In total, 24 students received their degrees and became alumni of the oldest state-supported university in the nation. This was the 22^nd graduation ceremony held on the Griffin Campus.  

Dr. Lew Hunnicutt, Assistant Provost and Campus Director, welcomed students, along with their families and friends, before introducing Keynote Speaker Dr. Russell Mumper, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs for UGA.

Dr. Mumper challenged the graduates to never become stagnant. Instead to keep challenging themselves, building upon their skills and accomplishments as well as being open to the possibility of change.

The 2017 Spring Graduation Celebration & Brick Ceremony were held at the UGA Griffin Campus on Thursday, May 4 at 10 a.m. A total of twenty-five graduates from the five colleges on campus did not allow the rain to dampen their celebration of their accomplishments. 

The University of Georgia Griffin Campus Spring 2016 Graduation Celebration and Brick Ceremony was held Thursday, May 12 at 10:00am in the Stuckey Auditorium and Naomi Woodroof Pavilion. Owner of WKEU Radio and long-time supporter of UGA Griffin, Bill Taylor, was the graduation speaker. Christopher Reynolds, CAES Agribusiness major, was the student speaker.

The UGA Griffin Campus celebrated several firsts with having the largest number of students participate in the celebration and wear academic regalia. The new tradition of students “taking a picture with Uga” at his new home in the center of the campus Quad has begun. Approximately three hundred students, faculty, staff, family and friends of the UGA Griffin Campus attended the celebration. Special thanks to Blackshear Photography of Griffin, GA for providing photography for this event. View the full album here.

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