VIDEO: Thousands fill Denver Coliseum to cheer new grads
MSU Denver celebrates Commencement as ceremonies return to pre-pandemic form.
More than 2,300 MSU Denver students received diplomas this month, as the University’s Commencement celebrations returned to the Denver Coliseum for the first time in more than two years.
The undergraduate and graduate students who crossed the stage on May 13 included 1,082 first-generation students and 1,036 students of color, as well as 117 military veterans and 99 single parents.
“All of you have decided that education matters,” MSU Denver President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., told graduates. “No matter how long it took you to get to this moment or what you had to go through to get here, you are here today. No one can take that away from you.”
Other speakers included Marathon Award winner Robert Cohen, chairman and CEO of IMA Financial Group, Inc. and a former longtime member of the MSU Denver Board of Trustees. Graduates also heard from Provost’s Award winner Ariana Sweeney and President’s Award winner Ines Calvete Barrios, as well as keynote speakers Leslie Herod, Colorado State House representative, and Yolanda Ortega, retired vice president of Student Affairs at MSU Denver.
Graduates celebrated their academic achievements at the Denver Coliseum for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic forced commencement ceremonies online in May 2020. Subsequent celebrations in the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021 were virtual. Last fall, the University held ceremonies at the Colorado Convention Center.
