News Release
June 9, 2017
Contact Lisa Hall 425-352-5461 / lhall7@uw.edu
University of Washington Bothell takes its 26th commencement to Safeco Field
BOTHELL, Washington – The University of Washington Bothell Class of 2017 is the largest to date with nearly 2,000 graduates. About 1,400 of them will walk to “Pomp and Circumstance” and receive their degrees Tuesday, June 13, at Safeco Field.
The new venue will allow about 15,000 proud family members and friends in the stands to cheer UW Bothell’s 26th commencement ceremony.
The University will confer 1,746 bachelor’s degrees and 213 master’s degrees. This will be the second UW degree for more than a third of the graduate students. In addition, 20 students also will receive their Washington state residency certificate in education.
The ceremony, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., will be especially significant for the families of the 518 UW Bothell graduates who are first generation (whose parents do not have a bachelor’s degree.) The UW Bothell Class of 2017 also includes graduates in three new degrees: physics, educational studies, and gender, women and sexuality studies.
The graduates will be sent off with the inspiring words of commencement speaker Leland Melvin, a former NASA astronaut who also was once drafted in the National Football League. Injuries prevented him from playing professional football but not from a career as an engineer and scientist who encourages a new generation of explorers to pursue science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.
There were 1,800 in the Class of 2016. With the latest graduates, UW Bothell now has about 20,000 alumni.
Read details about commencement.
About UW Bothell: UW Bothell provides access to an exceptional University of Washington education to students in a small campus environment that fosters student achievement. Offering more than 55 undergraduate and graduate degrees, options, certificates and concentrations, UW Bothell builds regional partnerships, inspires change, creates knowledge, shares discoveries and prepares students for leadership in the state of Washington and beyond.
