Fulbright College Celebrates Spring 2021 Graduates With Ceremonies, Digital Features and More

This month more than 4,160 graduates became the University of Arkansas’ newest alumni during the 2021 Spring Commencement ceremonies – and about a fourth of them are from very our own Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. 

And while last spring’s ceremonies went entirely virtual because of the pandemic, the 2021 ceremonies featured limited in-person attendance with a condensed program, social distancing and mask wearing. 

Additionally, the May 6-8 ceremonies consisted of 19 separate events to better allow for these precautions and included some alumni who graduated last year and were invited to the 2021 ceremonies after the 2020 ones were canceled due to COVID-19.  

Graduates were also recognized this year through the U of A’s 2021 Commencement website, which features a downloadable graduation app, a virtual Senior Walk tour and a social media feed of those using the university’s commencement hashtag, #UARK21. 

Videos of the live-streamed 2021 spring commencement ceremonies are also available on the U of A’s YouTube channel.  

Likewise, the Fulbright College commencement website included a message from Dean Todd Shields, a complete list of our Spring 2021 graduates, and information about our featured student speaker, Melissa Corvera.  

The site also introduced two new fun social media-based college traditions – Instagram takeovers featuring a few of our fantastic graduates, and congratulatory video messages from #UARK21 graduates’ loved ones.  

 The Instagram takeovers featured new alumni Julia Nall, Emma Wiederhoeft and Stephanie Barber, and their stories are still saved to our @uafulbright Instagram profile for readers to check out. Each shared a bit about who they are and what their college experience has been like, and answered questions from our followers, too.  

Emma Wiederhoeft

Stephanie Barber

The #UARK21 graduate video messages featured clips from more than 70 parents, friends, supporters and loved ones, and are organized alphabetically by each participating student’s last name. Check them out on our college YouTube channel.

In case you missed it in the last Fulbright REVIEW, we also recently featured six new alumni – Lucas Bellaiche, Heather Hodge, Hannah Kouchehbagh, Lucas Ros, April Vincent and Mica-Ela Vitug – sharing what graduating during a pandemic has meant to them.

And as Dean Shields said, “On behalf of our faculty, staff and entire U of A community, we offer you a big congratulations, Class of 2021 – you did it!” 

Julia Nall

“You survived the late-night study sessions, the group projects, the times of uncertainty and so much more – including this strange and unprecedented pandemic time,” he added.   

“And, you’ve grown in the face of these obstacles, you’ve adapted, and your resiliency has brought you to this moment,” he said.  

“You’ve worked so hard for so long, and now you’ve reached the graduation milestone you’ve been striving for.” 

“Please take a moment to reflect on just how momentous this is, on just how amazing this accomplishment is, on all it took to get to this moment, and all the incredible potential your future holds! Congratulations graduates!” 

Portions of this story also appeared in the University of Arkansas News publication.