Trinity University will hold two commencement exercises on Saturday, May 13, conferring degrees on a total of 430 undergraduate and graduate students. Trinity alumni and a graduating senior will address the graduates, and the recipient of the University's most prestigious award for teaching and advising will be announced.
The graduate Commencement begins at 9 a.m. in Parker Chapel for 39 students who will receive master’s degrees in teaching, school psychology, or accounting. The speaker is Nico R. Gleza ’06, ’07, senior audit manager for PwC. No tickets are necessary for admission. A reception will immediately follow the ceremony and will be held on the Esplanade and in the Coates Student Center.
The ceremony for 391 undergraduates is at 10:30 a.m. in Laurie Auditorium, where seating is limited and tickets are required for guests and relatives of candidates for Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Music degrees. The speaker will be Ana Unruh Cohen ’96, who is the director of Energy, Climate, and Natural Resources in the office of U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. Representing the class of 2017 is Nipuni Gomes, a graduating senior.
At the undergraduate Commencement, the Dr. and Mrs. Z.T. Scott Faculty Fellowship Award will be announced recognizing a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in teaching and advising students. The President's reception will immediately follow the ceremony and will be held on the Esplanade and in the Coates Student Center.
Cohen is an environmental policy expert with 15 years of government and non-profit legislative, management, communication, and political experience specializing in climate change, energy, and natural resources. After receiving degrees in chemistry and geosciences at Trinity, she earned a doctorate in earth sciences from the University of Oxford. She was named Trinity’s Outstanding Young Alumna in 2007-08.
Gomes ’17 is an international student from Sri Lanka who grew up in Honduras. A double major in communication and English, she has been a reporter for the Trinitonian and for The Roar, a contributor to The Contemporary, and managing editor of 1966: A Journal of Creative Nonfiction. She expressed “overwhelming support from the faculty, staff, and the Trinity administration” as well as other students during her campus journey. Being the student speaker is “the best way to pay my respects before I leave,” Gomes said.
Gleza graduated from Trinity with a double major in mathematics and accounting and went on to earn a master's in accounting from Trinity. She started working in the audit practice division of PwC in Houston and has been with PwC for almost 10 years. Currently, Gleza is a senior manager on tour in the national office at PwC in the accounting services group.
You might be interested in
