Utah Valley University to graduate largest class ever

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6:30 p.m. Thursday • Utah Valley University will graduate its largest class ever Thursday at the UCCU Center in Orem.

The 5,258-student class receiving degrees is 11 percent bigger than last year. The students started during a time of record enrollment growth for all Utah colleges and universities, especially UVU.

Main graduation ceremonies begin at 6:30 p.m. in the UCCU Center, 80 W. University Parkway.

Individual college convocations will be held across campus Friday.

The speaker will be Army veteran Wes Moore, author and host of a PBS television series that chronicles veterans' struggles as they return home.

Two UVU graduates and Winter Olympic medalists, Noelle Pikus-Pace and Chris Fogt, will be awarded honorary degrees along with UVU donor Barbara Barrington Jones, an author and motivational speaker.

The student speaker is student body president Bradley Jonothon Andrews, who earned a bachelor's in marketing with a minor in business management. About two dozen faculty members will receive four excellence awards.