Guam – The University of Guam conferred degrees to 375 students on Sunday at its Fañomnåkan 2019 Commencement Ceremony held at the UOG Calvo Field House. Crossing the stage were 315 undergraduate and 60 graduate students, making this the largest graduating class for the university to date.
The largest number of graduates came from the School of Business & Public Administration, which conferred 105 undergraduate degrees and 21 graduate degrees. The School of Education graduated the largest number of graduate students conferring 28 master’s degrees. This graduation also saw the first UOG graduate with a Master of Science in Sustainable Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources — the University’s newest master’s program, which started in 2017.
Quotes from the ceremony:
“I thank our graduates for learning with us, for challenging us to think in new and different ways, and for your commitment to making the world a better place for all of us and for those who come after us.” — University of Guam President Thomas W. Krise
“Fellow graduates, we are living in a time of change. In such a short amount of time, we have seen amazing advances in technology, medicine, and social change. … There is still so much to do, and as the children of this generation of change, it our responsibility to perpetuate that change for the better.” —Valedictorian Seanne R. Clemente, Bachelor of Science in Biology
“Last month, during my first State of the Island address, I told the people of Guam that the state of our island is promising. … YOU are part of that promise. … I was not born a leader. I became a leader because people saw promise in me. And today, I see promise in all of you.” — Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, commencement speaker
“Do not be afraid to ask questions and seek answers. … Questions lead to answers, or to the discovery of facts and sound reasoning that can lead to a change for the better. … Questions rock complacency. When we ask questions, we learn more. We become surer of ourselves. We become more confident in our decisions, our ideas, and our actions. We become more courageous, and we hold ourselves up stronger.” — Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, commencement speaker
“Graduating with a nursing degree, I can’t wait to start helping people in the community.” — John Sablan, Bachelor of Nursing
“I value the opportunities I’ve had and the friendships I’ve made at UOG. I’ve made some awesome friends who have encouraged me, and I was able to travel a lot and had the chance to study abroad at a Japanese university.” — Danielle Hagen, Bachelor of Arts in English, linguistics emphasis
“Graduating today is for my family, so it feels really good. I value the people I’ve met along the way — people who changed my life, and I feel like a better person because of it.” — Efigenia Barcinas, Bachelor of Business Administration, finance and economics concentration
