President Ruth Watkins: We have come to the moment the majority of you have been waiting for. The presentation of the candidates for bachelor’s degrees. As we begin, I’d like to recognize our six Bennion Center Community Engaged Scholars, the 134 students who will receive the Undergraduate Research Scholars designation and the 229 students graduating with university Honors degrees. Congratulations to each of you.

Dean Keith Diaz Moore: Will the design thinkers, the community builders, the environmental caretakers, the candidates from the College of Architecture and Planning, please rise, wherever you are and with appropriate physical distancing, and be recognized by your loved ones. Thank you, graduates. We are proud of you, Class of 2020.

Dean Taylor Randall: Will the entrepreneurial, innovative and incredibly optimistic graduates of the David Eccles School of Business, please rise wherever you are and be recognized. You are the best. We know you have been through a lot. We are here for you. We hope we see you again at our graduation in December. We love you. Come back and see us.

Dean Kathryn Bond Stockton: Will the sly, scintillating, worth our perseverating, always cool, cogitating, apathy obliterating activist students from the School for Cultural and Social Transformation, wherever you may be, rise and be recognized? So much love, everyone. I miss you so much. See you in December. Extremely proud of your accomplishments. I hope you are, too.

Dean Elaine Clark: Will the graduates of the College of Education whose ingenuity, compassion and dedication to educate and support all children, regardless of circumstance, please stand? And while you’re at it, why don’t you give yourself a pat on the back? You certainly deserve it. And you still maintain some good social distance. So on behalf of the college faculty and staff, I want to congratulate you and I want to ask you to please stay in touch and remember to Go Utes! and do good.

Dean Richard Brown: Will the candidates from the College of Engineering who now join the ranks of our alumni who developed personal publishing, computer animation and the tools that enable us to study and work from home, please rise wherever you are and be recognized by your family and friends? I look forward to congratulating you in person at our convocation in December.

Dean John W. Scheib: Will all the cultural explorers, the true innovators, those professional players, performers and portrayers who tell our stories and of untold truths, who give voice to the voiceless and to our souls, their art soothes, those whose passions bring us together and make us whole and with they’re insightful work, our heartstrings and emotions they can control, awakening, inspiring and deepening our humanity. And in times like these, they keep our sanity. And so, will all the amazing artists, actors, dancers and movie makers, the musicians, art scholars, arts educators, art creators, and curators in the College of Fine Arts, please rise wherever you may be at this moment and be recognized? Thank you for all you’ve done for what you’ll go on to do. We look forward to seeing you back on campus. Thank you.

Dean David Perrin: Will the candidates from the College of Health, whose careers will make an essential contribution to restoring the health and wellness of citizens in Utah and across our country, please stand wherever you may be and to be recognized? On behalf of the faculty and staff of the college, we miss you terribly, we hope you and your family are doing well and we can’t wait to see you at our convocation ceremonies in December.

Dean Stuart Culver: Candidates from the College of the Humanities rise. You have traveled a strange path to your graduation, but now is your time. So poets and philosophers, linguists, journalists, and historians, rhetoricians and logicians, translators, persuaders and creators. Madam President, I present to you the heart of the Class of 2020, the graduates from the College of the Humanities. Please stand and be recognized. And please everyone, stay well and come to join us in a live ceremony real soon.

Dean Darryl Butt: Hello everyone. Will the engineers, the scientists and stewards of the earth, the students of all time and length scales, of all forms of matter, all elements of the periodic table, the extremes of temperature and pressure and time. Will the honorable candidates of the College of Mines and Earth Sciences, please stand wherever you happen to be and be recognized? Thanks for everything you’ve done for our college. Congratulations to all of you, I hope we see you next fall when we get to meet in person. You may be seated.

Dean Barbara L. Wilson: In this year of the nurse and midwife, I invite the candidates from the College of Nursing who are now members of the most trusted, honest and ethical profession as voted by the American public for 19 consecutive years, and first on the front lines in hospitals and clinics during this historic pandemic to rise and be recognized. Graduates, I want to let you know how honored I am to be the dean at this time. I am so proud of the work that you do and that you’ll continue to do. And although we can’t be together at this time, I look forward to you coming back in December and joining us for convocation at the College of Nursing. Thank you. And on behalf of all of us at the College of Nursing, Go Utes!

Dean Peter E. Trapa: College of Science graduates, take a break from developing the fundamental ideas which will help us address our current crisis. Mathematicians and scientists will lead the way in overcoming our current challenges. We need you. The world needs you. Stand up and be recognized. I’m so proud of all of you and I can’t wait to see what all of you will do. And I also can’t wait to see you on campus sometime soon. Go Utah!

Dean Cynthia Berg: Will the passionate individuals who will help us inspire solutions to the many challenges that face our world today and who will help in building strong economies, working political institutions, clean environments, and good mental health that celebrate diversity and utilize the resources of families and other social relationships, from the College of Social and Behavioral Science, please rise and be recognized wherever in the world that you are. We are so looking forward to celebrating with you in December.

Dean Martell Teasley: Will the candidates from the College of Social Work, the fastest growing social service profession in the State of Utah and the nation, please rise? Social workers, you rock. We are so proud of you and all that you do. There are so many people in need today, so go out and conquer the world and uphold our values. And please remember, in all of that you become, and in all that you do, please be kind to people because it is people who make us who we are. Again, congratulations.

President Ruth Watkins: It is with pleasure that the university recognizes its undergraduates and welcomes those candidates into our alumni ranks and into the fellowship of well-educated people. By virtue of the authority vested in me as president of the University of Utah, by the people of Utah, acting through their representatives in the Legislature and on the State Board of Regents, and on the recommendation of the faculty of the university and the university’s Board of Trustees, I confer upon you the baccalaureate degree or certificate for which you have qualified, which entitles you to all the rights, privileges and honors thereto pertaining.

Please accept our warmest congratulations! Graduates, I encourage you to attend your individual college convocations in December. They will provide the opportunity to gather in person and commemorate this great achievement with your peers, your friends, your family and the faculty and staff who have supported you.

Again, warmest congratulations to each of you.