Spring 2023 commencement – UofL News Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:56:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Graduating at the speed of life /post/uofltoday/graduating-at-the-speed-of-life/ Wed, 10 May 2023 14:58:00 +0000 /?p=58541 For many, earning a college degree soon after graduating high school is the norm.
For others, it happens at the pace of life.
That has been the case for at least two students who will walk across the stage at May Commencement 2023.
For Nancy Thompson, it took 50 years. For Erika J. Glenn, 32.
Stops and starts on the road to earning her degree
Nancy Thompson, 67, graduated from what was then Thomas Jefferson High School in 1973 (it is now a middle school).
She began attending UofL and also was working in the home mortgage industry, where no college degree was necessary for her to flourish. She took some classes on a whim: bowling, piano, philosophy.
Then she stopped taking classes, married and had a child, while continuing to work in the home mortgage business, where she had started answering phones.
“College was something that I always wanted to finish,” said Thompson, a mortgage loan officer for Ruoff Mortgage in Louisville and mother of one. Fifty years later, she is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy with a concentration in humanities from the College of Arts & Sciences.
“I had taken courses in real estate law, real estate appraisal, just because I was in that business, but my heart was always in philosophy,” she said. “Us humans do not come with an instruction manual. Philosophy is the closest thing I can come to how one should live one’s life.”
Her path to her degree was filled with stops and starts. A flood destroyed her home. Her father became terminally ill. The Great Recession of 2008 caused a mortgage crisis.
Finally, she asked a UofL advisor to help her with a game plan. “I said, ‘I’m not getting any younger, what do I need to finish up to actually declare a degree and to graduate?”
She is, naturally, philosophical about it.
“Nevertheless, she persisted,” she said.
All-online program helps lead to success
Erika Glenn, 50, a permanent auxiliary teacher at Millcreek Elementary School in Louisville and mother of four, started her college career in 1990 at Eastern Kentucky University, also right out of high school. She transferred to Jefferson Community & Technical College (JCTC) two years later and endured a stillborn birth in 1993. Her father died three days later and her only sister a year after that.
Erika J. Glenn
Erika J. Glenn
Glenn persevered to earn an associates degree in 1994 and worked full-time in the JCTC admissions office.
In 1998, ready to start again, Glenn started taking classes at UofL. Again, life got in the way and Glenn took a break.
In 2017, she enrolled in the all-online Organizational Leadership and Development (OLL) bachelor’s program in the College of ֱ & Human Development. The program is specifically designed for busy adults with work experience or military training who are seeking a bachelor’s degree. Again, work-life balance came into play but by 2022, still not finished, she saw an opening to her future.
That was when UofL introduced a new OLL track in diversity, inclusion, community engagement and equity (DICEE). Glenn sprinted, and on May 13 will earn a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in OLL on the DICEE track. She hopes to become a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consultant.
“I feel this is the work that I was called to do and learning more and more about how this program benefits the entire community as a whole is incredible,” Glenn said, noting the program reflected her life’s experiences.
“I am a single divorced black female who has struggled financially to raise my children. I have worked full time since I was 21 but because I did not have a (bachelor’s degree) most jobs paid me less than what I deserved,” she said. “I can relate to the topics we have discussed in class. … I feel this is my moment to speak my truth and to educate others on the importance of DEI.”
]]> Grad Autumn Magnuson is a force /post/uofltoday/grad-autumn-magnuson-is-a-force/ Tue, 09 May 2023 12:56:14 +0000 /?p=58508 Like many students, University of Louisville graduating senior Autumn Magnuson changed her major early in her college career.
Originally interested in engineering, she was planning to study robotics and minor in biology. She hoped to build robots that would help scientists research undersea life.
Autumn Magnuson holds a snake during a field study.
Autumn Magnuson holds a snake during a field study.
“Over time, I realized that biology was really where my passion was,” she said, so she changed her major to biology, specializing in the ecology track. A lifelong love of paleontology translated into an archaeology minor.
The change meant more field trips, such as one where she joined her entomology class at Louisville’s Caperton Swap by the Ohio River to collect insect specimens.
“That was definitely a bit of an adventure,” Magnuson said, smiling (she is always smiling).
Finding her way at UofL
Magnuson, 21, is a full-time wheelchair user who actively seeks out creative solutions to problems such as how to get a wheelchair through a swamp to find termite specimens. Due to a genetic condition, she has been using a wheelchair since high school.
She credits her UofL professors, fellow students and the staff of the(DRC) with helping her always find a way to pursue her interests.
She said she toured many colleges but it was at UofL where she knew she could thrive.
“Everyone here was very responsive, really eager to help and just the overall community I really like,” she said. “I also liked that it wasn’t super sprawling everywhere. The university itself is fairly compact, which makes things easy.”
She took advantage of DRC services as soon as she became a Cardinal.
“When I first came here, there were difficulties with things like taking tests where you might need to use a pencil because at that time that was a bit more of a difficulty for me, or ‘How can I do experiments when it’s difficult for me to pick up glass objects without breaking them?’ or ‘How do I get to these areas?’ and so the DRC really worked with me a lot on that, figuring out how to make things work,” she said. “Over time we were able to find more solutions.”
When the field work for a class wasn’t possible for her, “they would bring me back the data and I’d do the computational side. So we were always able to find things that would work.”
Heading to London
In September, Magnuson will enter a master’s program at. Her degree program in taxonomy, biodiversity and evolution means she will be able to take classes in London’s renowned Natural History Museum, appealing to her lifelong interest in museums. Her goal is to earn a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology and become a college professor, devoting her career to “contributing to our understanding of how environments can help shape the evolution of different species.”
A member of the TriBeta Honor Society for biology undergraduates, Magnuson presented her Senior Honors Thesis research on stingray skeletons at the Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference 2023, which this year was held at UofL. Last summer, she conducted research on snake jaws at the University of Texas at Austin, and presented her results at one symposium and two national conferences.
Asked about her favorite UofL classes, Magnuson had a hard time narrowing down the list and gave high praise to the many professors who inspired her. She was especially thankful to Matt Kolmann, assistant biology professor, for being “an amazing and supportive mentor. My experience in his lab has been valuable for my growth in research and as a student.”
She was also an undergraduate teaching assistant for two semesters, giving lectures in classes and helping fellow students in their labs.
“That really taught me a lot,” she said.
At home, the force is with her
Before college, Magnuson, whose father was a pilot in the United States Air Force, moved frequently with her family. Her father has since retired and become a pilot with UPS and the family moved from Maryland to Louisville. She has a younger sibling at Western Kentucky University, and her mother is a choir director. The family has a cat named Sochi (after the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games) and a “Star Wars”-themed room in their basement they enjoy for family time. She is also an avid “Lord of the Rings” fan.
One of her favorite pastimes is 3-D printing. Star Wars trinkets are among her favorite items to make and give away as gifts.
The force is most definitely with her.
Watch the video of Magnuson’s story:
]]> New president to lead UofL spring Commencement ceremonies May 13 /post/uofltoday/new-president-to-lead-uofl-spring-commencement-ceremonies-may-13/ Mon, 08 May 2023 13:39:32 +0000 /?p=58503 UofL President Kim Schatzel will preside over her first University of Louisville Commencement in two May 2023 ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, May 13, at the downtown KFC Yum! Center.

Of the approximately 3,650 students who applied for degrees and certificates, more than 2,000 have indicated they will take part in the ceremonies, the first to be held during UofL’s yearlong celebration of its 225th anniversary. Commencement ceremonies also will be held in December.

Student speakers are Thomas Hulse from the College of Arts & Sciences (morning ceremony) and (afternoon ceremony).

Hulse, who will pursue a Ph.D. in applied physics at Rice University after graduation, will earn a bachelor of science in physics and a bachelor of arts in political science with minors in mathematics and German. Hylen will earn a bachelor of arts in economics with a minor in Arabic. She will work at an organization that connects youth to service opportunities across the country, then plans to live abroad to continue learning language through immersive experiences.

The ceremony will be broadcast live at . Follow#UofLGrads2023 on social media.

In addition, the UofL Graduate School will host a doctoral hooding and graduation ceremony for approximately 70 graduates at 2 p.m. Friday, May 12, on Belknap Campus in the Swain Student Activities Center (SAC) Ballroom, second floor.

Earlier on May 12, UofL’s U.S. Army ROTC cadre, Cardinal Battalion, will hold a commissioning ceremony, also in the SAC Ballroom. Fourteen cadets will be commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army at the 9 a.m. event.

UofL’s Air Force ROTC Detachment 295 will hold its commissioning ceremony at noon, May 12, at the Kentucky Derby Museum. Seven cadets will be commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force.

For more information, visit .

]]>