Photo by Angela Foster
For the first time since 2019, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga commencement will fill McKenzie Arena to the rafters.
Restrictions that had previously applied to UTC commencement ceremonies—first going virtual due to COVID-19; then limited when returning to an in-person format due to pandemic and public health restrictions; and finally limited seating capacity because of McKenzie Arena renovations—have been lifted.
Spring commencement will be celebrated with three separate ceremonies over two days starting Friday, May 3.
“Over the last few years, I have challenged the crowd to make it sound like there were nearly 10,000 people in McKenzie Arena. This time, there are going to be nearly 10,000 people in the arena. So it’s going to be fun to hear what commencement sounds like with all the sights and sounds that go along with it,” UTC Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Jerold L. Hale said.
Graduate School commencement takes place at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Dr. Edna Varner, a UC Foundation Board of Trustee and longtime member of the Public Education Foundation, will deliver the graduation charge.
Two undergraduate commencement ceremonies will take place on Saturday. The College of Arts and Sciences/College of Engineering and Computer Science ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. The Gary W. Rollins College of Business/College of Health, Education and Professional Studies ceremony starts at 1 p.m. The featured speaker for both undergraduate ceremonies is UTC alumnus Richard Zhang, who graduated summa cum laude in 1992 with bachelor’s degrees in chemistry, economics and accounting.
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Among the UTC students being celebrated this week:
- Nina Klimenkova and Arsen Martyshchuk, recipients of UTC Global Response Assistantship scholarships, will be receiving master’s degrees. Before they say goodbye to UTC, the two reflect about their journey from Ukraine and their shared time in Chattanooga.
- Triple major Jannat Saeed, who will be receiving bachelor’s degrees in history, humanities: international studies and software systems—as well as being a Brock Scholar in the UTC Honors College.
- Nehemiah Antoine, a chemistry major and Innovations in Honors member, talks about his career path toward medicinal chemistry research.
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More than 1,300 undergraduates and nearly 300 graduate students will receive their degrees. Those numbers include approximately 250 first-generation college students and 90 military-affiliated students (consisting of veterans, spouses and dependents).
Provost Jerold Hale
“I’m really excited about seeing the arena packed with people again; it’s going to be a special environment,” Hale said. “Commencement is always one of my favorite times of the year. It’s the culmination of student achievements—and faculty members, parents and guests can take pride in what the students have done.
“It’s going to be nice to be able to accompany their achievements with all the pomp and circumstance they deserve.”
Traditions of UTC commencements past, including processionals for graduates, faculty and gonfalons—ceremonial banners representing each of the University’s colleges—will be part of the proceedings.
“Over the last few commencements, we tried to maintain elements of the usual process where we could, but we were missing out on a lot,” Hale said. “I don’t think any of us will forget what we went through in 2020 and started coming out of in 2021 and beyond, but I’m hoping that a full arena will ease whatever bad memories people have from that period of time and leave them with really good ones.”
Hale came to UTC in June 2019. He officiated December’s fall commencement—which traditionally has significantly fewer graduates than in the spring; three months later, the pandemic reached Chattanooga.
Many of this year’s graduating seniors began their time at UTC in fall 2020 and did not participate in a traditional high school graduation ceremony due to the pandemic. Upon arriving at the University, a high percentage of classes were being held either virtually or in restricted fashions, and masks were required.
“For this group of graduates, I think what they went through is unlike what any other generation of students has had to go through. To me, that’s what will make this special,” Hale said.
“Not only did they go through things that no one has ever had to go through before, but they did it with excellence. This is a time to celebrate their remarkable persistence and hard work.”
Click here for more information and a FAQ list on spring commencement ceremonies.
- Family and guest commencement information, including parking and travel to campus, can be found here.
- Closed captioning for all commencement ceremonies can be found here.
This will be the 263rd overall commencement for the University, founded in 1886 as the then-private Chattanooga University. The first UTC graduation ceremony took place on Aug. 23, 1969, at the Tivoli Theatre in downtown Chattanooga.
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2:30 p.m. Friday, May 3—Graduate Commencement
Dr. Edna Varner, Senior Advisor and Residency Teacher Coach, Public Education Foundation
Dr. Edna Varner is a Chattanooga native and public school graduate. The first in her family to attend college, she received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in secondary education: English from UTC in 1971 and 1982, a specialist degree in administration and supervision from Trevecca Nazarene University in 1986, and an education doctorate in administrative leadership from Carson-Newman University in 2018 after starting her doctoral program at Tennessee State University.
Dr. Edna Varner
During her 30 years as an educator, she served on the founding faculty of Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences and retired as principal of The Howard School. For 11 years, she was the director of leadership development for Cornerstone Literacy Initiative before joining the Chattanooga-based Public Education Foundation—where she is currently a senior advisor and residency teacher coach. She represented PEF in speaking to the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee about Hamilton County’s high school reform efforts (2006) and No Child Left Behind reauthorization (2007).
Varner is a Leadership Chattanooga alumna, a Thrive Regional Partnership emerita, and a past president of local chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (UTC charter member) and The Links, Incorporated. She is a past board chair of the Community Foundation, Chattanooga State Foundation, Siskin Children’s Institute, Aim Center, UnifiEd and United Way. Currently, she is board secretary for Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy and Chattanooga Prep; board treasurer for ArtsBuild; education chair of the NAACP; president of the Tennessee State University Alumni Association; and board member of the UC Foundation, the Sports Authority, the Ochs Center and Read 20. She is a commissioner of the Chattanooga Housing Authority and president nominee of Chattanooga Downtown Rotary.
Her notable awards include a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study classical literature at Stanford University, Bessie Smith Center Living Legend, Delta of the Year, Chattanooga Woman of Distinction, CGLA Founders Award, Girls Incorporated’s Unbought and Unbossed Award, and a National Coalition of 100 Black Women’s Pioneer Woman. She received the 2021 Kiwanis Distinguished Service Award and is the 2023 Tennessee Public Charter School Advocate of the Year.
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9 a.m. Saturday, May 4—Undergraduate Commencement: College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering and Computer Science
1 p.m. Saturday, May 4—Undergraduate Commencement: Gary W. Rollins College of Business and College of Health, Education and Professional Studies
Richard Zhang, Partner and Head of Greater China, Apax Partners
Richard Zhang has led London headquartered Apax Partners’ operations in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia since 2008, including private equity investments and fundraising. Apax is a leading global private equity advisory firm.
Richard Zhang
Before joining Apax, Zhang was a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm. He was the first person with a mainland Chinese background to serve on McKinsey’s global partner election committee and was responsible for evaluating partner candidates in the firm’s Chicago office—where he started his professional career in 1993.
Zhang is a well-recognized business and community leader who has served on corporate and nonprofit boards. He is passionate about the potential of education to change peoples’ lives and society for the better. He serves on the global advisory board of the School of Education and Social Policy and the Asian Executive Board of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University—where he received his master’s degree in finance.
Zhang, a member of the Brock Scholars in the Honors College during his time at UTC, earned bachelor’s degrees in accounting, chemistry and economics in 1992—graduating summa cum laude in all three majors. He was the recipient of the Honors College’s Sompayrac Alumni Award in 2019. He received several major U.S. national scholarship awards and was named to USA Today’s All-USA College Academic Team in recognition of his outstanding academic accomplishment and community service while in college.
