The University of Kentucky held its December Commencement on Friday, Dec. 20, at Rupp Arena. The UK Alumni Association honored our newest alumni at our Commencement Open House that day.
Approximately 1,800 undergraduate and graduate students were eligible for Fall 2019 degree conferral, and more than 1,000 were expected to participate in the ceremonies. August 2019 degree recipients were also eligible to participate in the December ceremonies — over 900 degrees were conferred for August.
An honorary degree was presented at the 10 a.m. ceremony to Porter “P.G.” Peeples, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Lexington. Peeples is a 1968 graduate of UK — one of the few African American students to enroll and graduate at that time. The following year, at the age of 22, Peeples was named the director of the new Lexington chapter of the Urban League, making him the youngest chapter director in the United States. He has dedicated his life to serving Lexington and its African American community through an over 50-year career of civil rights and social justice advocacy with the Urban League.
Each ceremony had a student speaker.
Daniel Beasley, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the UK College of Social Work. He the Commencement address at the 10 a.m. ceremony.
Ndeye Matou Amar, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the UK College of Arts and Sciences, delivered the Commencement address at the 3 p.m. ceremony.
Please enjoy the following photos from the Commencement ceremonies and our Commencement Open House. See a full gallery of photos here.
10 a.m. Commencement and Commencement Open House
3 p.m. Commencement and Commencement Open House
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