More Than 3,200 Expected To Participate In UF’s Spring Graduation

May 1, 1996

GAINESVILLE — Families and flashbulbs will be prevalent in Gainesville on Saturday as more than 3,200 of 4,750 graduating Gators take part in two commencement ceremonies at the University of Florida.

C.W. Bill Young, a congressman since 1970 from Florida’s 10th District, will speak at graduation, which will honor one distinguished alumnus and 13 graduating seniors who will receive Alumni Association honors as outstanding graduates.

Also expected to graduate Saturday is former Gator running back Emmitt Smith, now with the Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys, who will receive his bachelor of science in recreation from the College of Health and Human Performance during the morning ceremony.

Smith left UF for the National Football League before his senior year in 1990 when he was already UF’s all-time leading rusher with almost 4,000 yards.

“It was a promise that he made when he came out early — that he would come back and get his degree,” Emmitt’s mother, Mary Smith of Pensacola, said last week. “I’m very, very, very happy.

“Nothing is like having that degree,” she said. “That’s something no one can take away from you.”

That sentiment is true for all of UF’s graduates this semester. And a good example of what can happen with that degree is Maxwell C. King, president of Brevard Community College, who will be named a Distinguished Alumnus Saturday.

After earning a Master of Science in Education and a Doctor of Education degree from UF, King began his career in education as a teacher at St. Lucie County High School and soon advanced to the position of principal of Dan McCarty High School. At 32, he became the nation’s youngest college president, leading Indian River Community College in 1960. In 1968, he became the third president of Brevard Community College. King has served on advisory committees at UF and has been active in Florida’s Council of 100.

Among the thousands of seniors, 13 have been chosen as outstanding graduates, including Kimberly Blanchard and Derek Copeland, this spring’s Outstanding Leaders.

Blanchard, a psychology major from Brandon, was chosen as the outstanding female leader after earning a 3.78 grade point average and garnering numerous honors, including selection to the UF Hall of Fame, Who’s Who Among American Colleges and Universities, Alpha Lambda Delta national honor society, the National Residence Hall honorary and Gator Round Table.

A finance major from Valrico with a minor in economics, Copeland will be named the outstanding male leader. Copeland was active in Florida Blue Key, ACCENT speakers bureau, Student Government, Omicron Delta Kappa’s Celebration of the Arts and Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. Copeland was one of 16 recipients nationwide and Florida’s only recipient of the 1995 U.S. Congressional Gold Award.

English major Sarah Concannon of Orlando, political science major Daniel Fridman of Plantation, chemistry major Kelley Galvin of Orlando, chemistry major David Husted of Wesley Chapel, microbiology and cell science major Vincent Marconi, accounting major Donna Potter of Fort Lauderdale, chemistry major William Shen of Gainesville, computer and information sciences major David Sutton of Fort Lauderdale and psychology major April Worsdel of Davie will be honored as Outstanding Four-Year Scholars.

Jesse Ehnert, a mechanical engineering major from Fruitland Park, and Dave Theys, a dance major from Miami, will be designated Outstanding Two-Year Scholars.

Telecommunications major Nicole Haislett, a three-time Olympic gold medalist from St. Petersburg, will receive the Tracy Caulkins Award for outstanding achievement and athletics.

Chris Doering, a Gainesville telecommunications major who started the football team as a walk-on but ended his career as a record-breaker, will receive the Doug Belden Award. The award also recognizes excellence in athletics and academics.

Graduation ceremonies are 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on the UF campus.