LARAMIE, Wyo. (May 12, 2017) – On the evening of Thursday, May 11, the University of Wyoming Athletics Department held a special reception for its student-athletes who are graduating during the 2017 spring commencement ceremonies this coming weekend. A total of 60 Cowboy and Cowgirl student-athletes are scheduled to graduate this spring.
A large number of spring graduates, members of their families, UW faculty and UW Athletics coaching and administrative staffs were in attendance. The reception was held in the Wildcatter Stadium Club and Suites at War Memorial Stadium.
The combined cumulative grade-point average for the 60 graduates entering the 2017 spring semester was 3.17. The spring student-athlete graduates are earning their degrees in 27 different majors.
Laura Beach, a former Cowgirl volleyball player who is receiving her degree in kinesiology and health promotion, spoke at the ceremony on behalf of the graduating student-athletes.
"It's an incredible honor to be asked to speak on behalf of my fellow classmates," Beach said. "Approaching graduation, there's a million things running through your head that you wish you could share with everyone, so to be able to share some of those thoughts with classmates and speak on their behalf was very special. Being a student-athlete here the last four years has given me an enormous sense of pride for this school and state. The most rewarding part of playing at the University of Wyoming has been seeing the family that we have and the support from across the state. It's an amazing feeling to be playing for something that means so much more than ourselves and to give back to the state, which has also been a very rewarding part of these past four years."
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.
"Laura (Beach) did a phenomenal job representing the student-athletes at the reception," Director of Academic Services,
Taylor Stuemky said. "The cumulative grade-point average says a lot about them and how they've been committed to the classroom while here at the university. With 27 different majors, it is quite an achievement for all 60 student-athletes and was no doubt a great day to celebrate their accomplishments."
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.
