Texas A&M To Award More Than 8,700 Degrees This Month

Texas A&M University is projected to award more than 8,700 degrees this month during 16 commencement ceremonies held across Texas and at its branch campus in Doha, Qatar. The main-campus commencement ceremonies will be among the first public appearances by the university’s new president, Michael K. Young, who took over leadership of the university on May 1. Commencement also will include several new features, including presentation of diplomas by deans of their respective colleges.

Eight commencement exercises will be conducted on the main campus during a four-day span that starts today (Wednesday, May 13) with the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences awarding its Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees.

“I’m proud to join our faculty and staff in recognizing the accomplishments and potential of this May’s graduates,” commented President Young. “They represent our collective futures with their ability to impact our state and nation for the greater good. They carry with them the heritage of Texas A&M University. We wish them all the best.”

The ceremonies also will include the commissioning of approximately 130 members of the Corps of Cadets as part of the 2 p.m. Friday (May 15) ceremonies. Additionally, midshipmen of Texas A&M-Galveston’s Texas A&M Maritime Academy will receive their officer licenses for the U.S. Merchant Marine during the branch campus’ ceremony. The number of students receiving commissions is the most since 1984 for a comparable period, with the newly commissioned officers representing all four branches of the armed forces.

In addition to the multiple College Station ceremonies, separate ones will be held for the university‘s graduates at branch campuses in Galveston (241 students)—a record for the maritime-focused program — and Qatar (80 students), as well as for the Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth (182 students) and at several sites around the state for the colleges and schools that are part of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (HSC) (total of 675 students across the five allied health-related colleges).

HSC commencement ceremonies begin this week, as noted here.

University officials point out that the graduation and commissioning figures are based on current filings and related status and can be expected to vary slightly by the time of the ceremonies.

The Dwight Look College of Engineering will have separate graduation exercises for the first time in school history. Ceremonies for students receiving masters’ and doctoral degrees in engineering will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday in Rudder Auditorium and at 7 p.m. in Reed Arena for those receiving undergraduate degrees.

For a full listing of the commencement ceremonies, see graduation.tamu.edu.

The university’s May 14-16 main-campus commencement exercises will be broadcast on KAMU-TV.