UTEP Celebrates Graduates at Sun Bowl
Last Updated on May 12, 2021 at 5:00 PM
Originally published May 12, 2021
By UC Staff
UTEP Communications
EL PASO, Texas — The University of Texas at El Paso celebrated the accomplishments of all graduates of the Class of 2020, and spring and summer candidates from the Class of 2021, in a pair of momentous Commencement ceremonies May 14-15, 2021, at Sun Bowl Stadium.
The ceremonies marked the first time UTEP has hosted in-person Commencement festivities since December 2019 and the first time graduates received their diplomas in Sun Bowl Stadium since the University’s Centennial Commencement in 2014.
Friday’s ceremony recognized bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral graduates and candidates in the colleges of Business Administration, Education and Liberal Arts. Saturday’s ceremony honored graduates and candidates in the colleges of Engineering, Health Sciences and Science, and the schools of Nursing and Pharmacy.
Watch the Ceremonies
UTEP livestreamed ceremonies throughout Commencement weekend.
• Friday, May 14: Doctoral hooding ceremony. | Replay the ceremony
• Friday, May 14: Business Administration, Education and Liberal Arts. | Replay the ceremony | View photo gallery
• Saturday, May 15: Engineering, Health Sciences and Science; schools of Nursing and Pharmacy. | Replay the ceremony | View photo gallery
The First Class
UTEP awarded its first Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degrees to 40 students during the May 15 Commencement ceremony at Sun Bowl Stadium. In 2015, The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved the creation of UTEP’s new School of Pharmacy. The school welcomed its first cohort of students in August 2017.
The School of Pharmacy celebrated its first class of graduates with an inaugural hooding ceremony Thursday, May 13, 2021, in Magoffin Auditorium on the UTEP campus. To watch a replay of the ceremony, click here.
Doctoral Hooding Ceremony
A doctoral hooding ceremony honoring the colleges of Liberal Arts, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, Science and Nursing took place Friday, May 14, 2021, at the Don Haskins Center. To view a replay of the ceremony, click here.
‘Mining Minds’ Special Lighting
The “Mining Minds” pickaxe sculpture located at the Sun Bowl-University Roundabout was illuminated in blue and orange from Wednesday evening, May 12, through Sunday evening, May 16, to commemorate UTEP's classes of 2020 and 2021.
“Mining Minds” is an iconic piece of public art installed in 2010 to enhance the UTEP campus. At night, orange lights brighten the steel structure while light from LEDs emanate from the perforated “ones” and “zeroes” at each end of the pick. The University illuminates the pick in blue and orange on special occasions such as historic dates, major annual milestones and celebrations of special accomplishments.
Learn more about “Mining Minds” at www.utep.edu/miningminds.
About The University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is America’s leading Hispanic-serving university. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 94% of our nearly 25,000 students are minorities, and half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 166 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top tier research university in America.
