UC Irvine Parents eNews

July 2015

Issue No. 64

2015 Commencement by the numbers

This year's commencement is UCI's 50th. At the first, 14 diplomas were handed out. The campus has grown quite a bit since, and faculty, staff and volunteers worked feverishly to make sure the 2015 festivities went off without a hitch.

50,000: Estimated guests attending
21,171: Estimated photos of graduates during ceremonies
8,000: Estimated cars parked over three days
8,000: Programs distributed
7,057: Students who walked
5,000+: Hits on commencement website
1,880: Social sciences graduates
1,063: Social ecology graduates
770: Biological sciences graduates
676: Engineering graduates
613: Humanities graduates
578: Public health graduates
406: Information & computer sciences graduates
362: Physical sciences graduates
244: Arts graduates

More Commencement numbers ť

Commencement 2015 recap with photos ť

Sustainability Leadership Training

UC Irvine students and sustainability leadership staff embarked on a journey to Guatemala to participate in a Sustainability Leadership Training in April 2015. The training was facilitated by SERES, a non-governmental organization based in Central America whose mission is to empower young leaders to build sustainable, healthy, and thriving communities through education and transformative leadership.

The Sustainability Leadership Training complements what sustainability students are learning in the classroom by providing a hands-on opportunity to engage global sustainability-related issues, build transformative leadership skills, and develop a critical lens on local-global solidarity and international development. Through the training, the participating students are now taking on greater roles in peer facilitation, community visioning, and action planning through the co-curricular programs at the Global Sustainability Resource Center.

Photo journal ť

Inspiring Grads

By the time he was 6, Rene Amel Peralta was already working full time in construction and odds jobs in Mexico, just trying to survive. By 13, he and his sister had been abandoned by their only parent and had made the treacherous journey across the border.

On Saturday, June 13, Peralta and his sister both defied the long odds that were stacked against them, and were awarded college diplomas.

Peralta earned a bachelor's of science in chemistry from UC Irvine, graduating with high marks, while his sister was awarded a degree from Cal State Los Angeles.

Read on ť

More inspiring UC graduates ť