5,500 Graduates Is New A&M Record
From Texas A&M News & Information
Weekend commencement exercises saw many records being set at Texas A&M. These included a record number of undergraduates and also of graduates earning degrees as well as a record number of ceremonies, five, and the first ceremonies presided over by President Elsa Murano.
Approximately 5,500 new former students were congratulated and welcomed into the fold by representatives of The Association of Former Students at the five commencement ceremonies that took place Thursday through Saturday. It was A&M’s largest-ever graduating class, and likely to be among the top 10 in the nation.
About 4,400 Aggies received undergraduate degrees, and another 1,100 graduated at the master’s or doctoral level. It took an unprecedented five commencement exercises for university officials to honor the degree candidates in the formal manner that is traditional at Texas A&M.
There’s Sydney Bachtell of La Vernia, who is graduating in three years with a degree in communication and has been invited to be a member of the 2008 class in the Teach for America program.
There are the twin brothers James and John Shepherd of Fort Worth, who say they “feel very blessed” because their mother Carol, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a child and was not expected to survive, will watch them graduate with degrees in engineering.
Then there are the Aggie student-athletes receiving degrees this spring—a near-record 106 of them — some of whom missed their graduation exercises because they were representing Texas A&M in their sports at sites throughout the nation.
Last but certainly not least, there are the 80 graduates who were members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets and were commissioned into the Army, Air Force, Navy or Marine Corps in conjunction with the university’s final 2008 spring commencement ceremony Saturday afternoon. They will enhance Texas A&M’s long-standing record for providing more officers for the armed forces than any institution in the nation except for the service academies.