Laramie, Wyo. (Dec. 7, 2017) -- On the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 6, the University of Wyoming Athletics Department held a special reception for its student-athletes who are graduating during 2017 fall commencement ceremonies. The reception was held in the Mickey's area within the newly-renovated Arena-Auditorium.
Approximately 100 people were in attendance, including the fall graduates, members of their families, UW faculty and UW Athletics coaching and administrative staffs.
The combined cumulative grade-point average for the graduates entering the 2017 fall semester was an impressive 3.01. The 19 spring student-athlete graduates are earning their degrees in 14 different majors.
Drew Van Maanen, a captain on the Wyoming football team who is earning his bachelor's degree in social science, was asked to speak on behalf of the graduating student-athletes. After the reception he was asked what it meant to him to earn his degree.
"Academics has always been important to me going back to high school," said Van Maanen. "Football is a limited thing. It's not here forever, and especially with my time coming to an end as a college football player I'm starting to realize just how important the time I put into academics is going to be for me as I take the next step in life. It's a special moment for me."
What did it mean to the senior from Parker, Colo, to be asked to represent this fall's group of graduating student-athletes?
"At first it was a little nerve-racking, I'll be honest," said Van Maanen. "But it was an honor. Anytime you get to represent the people you are surrounded with all the time and the people you love to death, that was really cool, that was special to me. When I was writing my speech, it brought me back through all the memories I've had with the people I graduated with tonight. I've made friends with so many of those people. It was really cool to talk to them and represent them."
The reception, which has been held for UW student-athletes each semester since the spring of 2014, includes the presentation of an athletics graduation stole to each student. Those graduation stoles are provided to wear along with the graduation stole from each student-athlete's college during graduation ceremonies.
The UW Athletics graduation stole is white with the familiar Steamboat Bucking Horse and Rider emblem on the right-hand side of the stole and a W-Club emblem on the left. Each graduating student-athlete will also receive a free W-Club membership for the coming year. The W-Club is the official organization for former Cowboy and Cowgirl student-athletes and coaches.
The University of Wyoming's 2017 commencement ceremony will be held in the Arena-Auditorium on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 10:00 a.m. Graduates from all nine colleges or degree-granting schools will participate in the same ceremony that morning.
