UW Tacoma Class of 2021 - Virtual Ceremony and Grad Experience

This year's 2021 virtual Commencement included various activities for graduates to participate in leading up to and following the ceremony. The 2021 Grad Experience featured a Husky Alumni panel, drive-thru celebration, new alumni happy hour, as well as a career readiness week filled with numerous helpful workshops and more. 

The drive-thru celebration was held at the Washington State Fairgrounds, and students from all over the greater Tacoma Seattle area decorated their vehicles to participate in the fun! A novel way for graduates to celebrate with friends and family in a safe and socially distanced manner. Students even had the opportunity to get their professional grad photos taken and received a commemorative UW Tacoma souvenir! 

The following morning, commencement was streamed live via YouTube. The virtual itinerary featured various speeches from distinguished individuals from throughout the university, an award ceremony, and the official conferring of degrees. Watch the full video still available on YouTube here.

The Grad Celebration & New Alumni Happy Hour was hosted later that evening by food enthusiast Steve Ayden and game host Chris Fuentes. The celebration entailed an appetizer and drink session featuring a variety of delicious hummus recipe options along with specialty beer and craft cocktails to pair with. Graduates were able to follow along with Steve and prepare some delicious happy hour drinks and snacks to enjoy during the following game portion of the night! Chris Fuentes then led an assorted variety of fun games for everyone to participate in, including a virtual mash-up of "Name that Tune", "Name That TikTok Challenge", as well as some "UWT Trivia" of course! The perfect ending to an eventful day!

Congratulations again to the Class of 2021. And thank you to the parents, friends, and family members who were there to support our students along their journey. We are so proud of you and all of your achievements thus far and as always, Go Huskies!