By Sarah Geegan
Per University of Kentucky tradition, a student speaker will represent his or her class at both undergraduate Commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 5. The speakers for the 146th UK Commencement Ceremonies are Mercedes Rosado and Luke Glaser.
Mercedes Rosado, from Marquette, Mich., is graduating with a degree in kinesiology from the College of Education. A pilot candidate in Air Force ROTC, she will be commissioned after graduation and begin pilot training in February at Columbus Air Force base in Mississippi. She will deliver the Commencement address at the 1 p.m. ceremony.
Rosado joined the Air Force ROTC program at UK partly because of her father's 20-year experience in the Air Force. She considers her future career to be ideal because it will allow her to see the world while she works.
"I grew up seeing my dad in the Air Force, but I never imagined that I would be the one flying the planes when I heard him talk to Air Traffic Control," Rosado said.
Among her favorite memories of UK are participating in the enormous success of DanceBlue and facilitating the coin toss at a UK football game.
"I am very honored to represent my class as the student Commencement speaker," Rosado said.
Luke Glaser is graduating with degrees in English and Hispanic Studies, from the College of Arts and Sciences. From Louisville, Ky., he is also a Gaines Fellow, Honors Program student, Student Government senator and College of Arts and Science ambassador. He will give the Commencement address in the 6 p.m. ceremony.
As a senior fellow with the Gaines Center for Humanities, Glaser completed a two-year fellowship, working on a community jury project to create an anti-bullying play to be performed in elementary schools. As a Teach for America (TFA) campus community coordinator, he works to recruit students for the Teach For America Program and manages a student assistant group “Cats for the Corps,” to facilitate students from application to interview.
Glaser also served as an editor at The Kentucky Kernel from March 2011-May 2012. Working at the features desk, he was responsible for 20 staff writers and an assistant editor and wrote a weekly satirical column titled The Lukewarm Truth.
"It is a privilege to represent the Class of 2013 as the Commencement Speaker," Glaser said. "A large portion of my speech is devoted to the accomplishments of my classmates and the magnitude of our collective impact on campus. I only hope I can do it the justice it deserves."
Ceremonies will be held Sunday, May 5, in Rupp Arena. The Graduate and Professional Commencement Ceremony will take place at 9 a.m., followed by the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremonies at 1 pm. and 6 p.m.
1 p.m. — Undergraduate Ceremony for the colleges of: Agriculture; Business and Economics; Education; Engineering; and Nursing.
6 p.m. — Undergraduate Ceremony for the colleges of: Arts and Sciences; Communication and Information; Design; Fine Arts; Health Sciences; and Social Work.
Information regarding caps and gowns, parking and travel and college receptions is also available on the Commencement website.
For questions regarding Commencement, visit the Commencement FAQs page.