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School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

Spring 2021 UT Dallas Commencement Opportunities

The Office of Development and Alumni Relations has some Commencement opportunities for Spring 2021 graduates.

Opportunity #1: Commencement Student Speaker

As we have previously done with in-person ceremonies, we are offering the opportunity for graduating students to apply for a chance to be the student speaker at commencement. This process is available to all graduation eligible students through eLearning notification and is listed there under My Organizations.

Students interested in applying are required to submit the following items through eLearning for consideration:

  • An approved application signed by your school’s Dean or an Associate Dean
  • A draft speech (2 minutes in length)
  • Your resume
  • A video recording of your draft speech delivery

A few things to note:

  • Each student is required to seek an approval signature in order to be eligible for consideration, below is a list of suggested contacts for those who are unsure of the appropriate person to contact. 

Dean – Dr. Jennifer Holmes: jholmes@utdallas.edu
Undergraduate Associate Dean – Dr. Denise Boots: deniseboots@utdallas.edu
Graduate Associate Dean – Dr. Dohyeong Kim: dohyeong.kim@utdallas.edu

  • Deadline is Friday, March 26, 2021
  • Unlike past years, this virtual ceremony will differ in that we will only have one undergrad, and one graduate student speaker to represent all graduates and schools.

Opportunity #2: On-Campus Graduation Photos

With the help of Flash Photography, we are planning optional photo opportunities for upcoming Spring 2021 graduates to take place the week of April 12 on campus.  

The following three photo stations will be provided for the students: (1) crossing the stage photo, (2) formal graduation photo, and (3) fun/spirit photo. These photo opportunities will be a mix of indoor and outdoor stations.  

Our current schedule is as follows:
April 12: ATEC, A&H, IS
April 13: ECS
April 14: JSOM
April 15: EPPS, NSM
April 16: BBS

Students will be required to sign up for their photo time slots through an online form and will be limited to one guest per graduate. We are working on marketing material that will include the sign up link to make it easier to share with students via your social media platforms. Please stay tuned for more updates.

Please contact for inquiries:
Meredith Hamilton
University Events Planner 
Office of Development and Alumni Relations
972.883.3889
Meredith.Hamilton@UTDallas.edu