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This year The University of Tampa will honor more than 1,200 graduates at its 130th commencement on Saturday, May 7, at 10 a.m. in the St. Pete Times Forum. There will be 1,226 degree candidates, which includes August graduates; 1,027 are bachelor’s degree candidates, and 199 are graduate degree candidates. The ceremony is free and open to the public, but seating is limited.

The speaker for commencement will be Kristen Price ’81, professor and chair of the Department of Critical Care at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Price’s research is aimed at better predicting outcomes for cancer patients requiring admission to the critical care unit, to better allocate resources for each patient.

Loren Piretra, of Oakland, N.J., will introduce the speaker. An advertising and public relations major, Piretra co-founded the student public relations organization Tampa Spotlight PR. She has been vice president of the Diplomats and has been inducted into a number of scholarly and leadership organizations.

Chris McCarthy of Medfield, Mass., will issue the student challenge. The president of Student Government, McCarthy was instrumental in bringing a Blockbuster DVD rental kiosk to campus, helping with the Hertz Rent-a-Car program and allocating funds for the staffing and spare parts for the BikeUT bike share program.

The 2011 Esse Quam Videri Award will be awarded to Fred Pollock ’70. Pollock taught history for 38 years in Newark, N.J., and served as an urban planning instructor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology Summer High School Urban Engineering Program. The Young Alumnus Award will be given to Jesse Landis ’02, who co-founded Bayview Public Relations in St. Petersburg.

Among the students receiving diplomas will be former University of Tampa baseball player and Major League Baseball great Tino Martinez. Martinez returned to the school where he starred on the diamond from 1986-88 and completed his bachelor's degree requirements in liberal studies with a concentration in business and marketing.

For more information on commencement, contact the Office of the Associate Provost and Dean of Academic Services at (813) 257-3641.

Post your comments and congratulations on Twitter at #UTCommencement.

Commencement by the Numbers:
Total graduates = 1,226

Total bachelor’s degree candidates = 1,027
Honors
(Honors have not yet been calculated for August graduates)
Summa cum laude (GPA 4.0) = 2
Magna cum laude (GPA 3.75 or higher, but less than 4.0) = 64
Cum laude (GPA 3.5 or higher, but less than 3.75) = 156

Total master’s candidates = 199
Honors
(Honors have not yet been calculated for August graduates)
With honors (GPA 3.9 or higher, but less than 4.0) = 6
MBAs awarded = 157

Foreign countries represented by graduating class = 62
Percent of graduates from Florida = 53%
Top 3 most popular undergraduate majors in this class = marketing, management and communication