More than 1,900 students honored at NKU Commencement exercises

May 7, 2022 - Northern Kentucky University honored more than 1,900 graduates with family and friends looking on at the 50th Annual Commencement exercises Saturday at Truist Arena.

Graduates from the College of Education, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Informatics were honored in a ceremony at 9 a.m., while the Haile College of Business and College of Health and Human Services graduates held their ceremony at 2 p.m. during a daylong celebration of the achievements of the Class of 2022. 

The Chase College of Law held its annual commencement exercises Friday night. 

“On behalf of Northern Kentucky University, I’d like to congratulate each graduate on the completion of their degrees and certificates,” NKU President Ashish Vaidya said. “Through their hard work and determination, each graduating student got here today because of a desire to succeed, no matter the challenges of everyday life. Reaching this point is a testament to the learner-first values NKU holds dear as a student-ready, regionally engaged university that empowers diverse learners for economic and social mobility.” 

A total of 1,906 students earned degrees on Saturday. Of those, 560 are first-generation students and 292 are under-represented minority learners.

During the morning ceremony, Elise Bezold addressed her fellow graduates and the scores of families and friends in the crowd. Bezold graduated summa cum laude from the College of Arts and Sciences with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. During her time at NKU, she had multiple President’s List appearances and was involved in Leadership Mentors, STEM Scholars program and Gamma Sigma Epsilon Chemistry Honor Society. In the fall, Bezold will begin her doctoral studies in organic chemistry at Emory University. 

Lillian Gamel, who graduated magna cum laude with a degree from the Haile College of Business in both accounting and human resource management, addressed the afternoon commencement attendees and graduates. The northern Kentucky native always knew she wanted to go to NKU. After working as an audit co-op in her years at NKU, Gamel will be taking on the CPA exam following graduation and begin working full-time as an audit associate at BKD in Bloomington, IN. 

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval addressed graduates during the morning ceremony and former M&T Bank Corporation President and Chief Operating Officer Emerson L. Brumback spoke to graduates in the afternoon. Brumback was also awarded with an honorary degree. 

There are now more than 75,000 Northern Kentucky University graduates living and working in every corner of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and across the globe.