The fall semester has flown by, and this week we’re celebrating the graduation of nearly 2,500 students. Five commencement ceremonies will be held in the Kaye Performing Arts Auditorium today and tomorrow. Once again, our graduating class is richly diverse. Students receiving degrees range in age from 17 to 72, and they represent 40 countries. While in-person attendance is by admission only because of space limitations in the auditorium, all five ceremonies are being webcast. They’re accessible here.

At tomorrow’s 1 p.m. ceremony, I’ll have the pleasure of awarding the President’s Distinguished Service Medallion to Dr. Leonard Berry, founding director of the Florida Center for Environmental Studies and a worldwide authority on the critically important issue of sea level rise.

Congratulations to Dr. Berry and our December graduates, and happy holidays to everyone!