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KENOSHA, Wis. — The Spring 2024 Commencement for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside will be held on Saturday, May 11 in the De Simone Arena in the Sports and Activity Center. The ceremonies will honor more than 500 graduates and will be followed by receptions in the Petretti Fieldhouse.

There will be two ceremonies to better serve the graduates and their guests.

  • The first one will be held at 9 a.m. and will be for all students graduating from the College of Business, Economics, and Computing and the College of Arts and Humanities.
  • The second ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. and will be for all graduating students from the College of Natural and Health Sciences and the College of Social Sciences and Professional Studies.

Doors will open one hour before the ceremonies begin. Refreshments and photo opportunities will be available.

UW-Parkside

Commencement speaker

This semester’s commencement speaker will be Steve Scherer, an alumnus of UW-Parkside (‘10) and the Vice President of sales at CCB Technology. Steve is a husband, father to four children, an avid outdoorsman, and has more than 10 years of sales experience. He has grown from rep to department head and has been responsible for exponential growth at CCB Technology. Steve is being promoted to VP of Sales and Marketing in June.

Steve is the host of the podcast “The Impact of Leadership.” The Impact of Leadership Media Group was subsequently born and has grown into a multifaceted organization. A proud alumnus of UW-Parkside, Steve is motivated by connecting people to people and people to ideas. He believes no one drifts into excellence; it takes intentionality, accountability, humility and community.

Student recognition

Outstanding Graduates

In addition, UW-Parkside will recognize seven Outstanding Graduates and one Chancellor’s Award Recipient during the ceremony. The honorees are:

  • Allison Francisco | Economics & Marketing (Ada, Mich.)
  • Makenzie Kaput | Secondary Education & History (Plainfield, Ill.)
  • Ria Patel | Biological Sciences (Pleasant Prairie, Wis.)
  • Sarah Plutchak | Biological Sciences (Kenosha, Wis.)
  • Elishai Riley | Political Science (Racine, Wis.)
  • Antwaun Sanders | Master of Business Administration (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
  • Cal Solverson | Master of Arts in Professional Communication (Iowa City, Iowa)

Chancellor’s Award

  • Kalyn Diercks | Theatre Arts (Port Washington, Wis.)

Chancellor’s Award Recipient Kalyn Diercks will address her fellow graduates. Diercks majored in Theatre Arts with concentrations in Acting and Design & Technology. She was previously awarded the Picken Scholarship, the Goldstein Scholarship and the Arno Gunther Memorial Scholarship.

Diercks is a gifted performer, costume designer, and costume technician. She has earned an award for excellence in costume design from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 3. She has taken on other production roles and has worked on every show produced at UW-Parkside during her tenure as a costume shop student-employee and served on the Season Selection Student Committee for three years.

She has served as both the secretary and activities and events coordinator for the Drama Club. Diercks was selected as a student mentor and as a theatre arts recruitment ambassador. She has served as a summer camp director for Cedarburg Children’s Theatre and was hired as a costume apprentice and stitcher for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival.

For more details about UW-Parkside’s Spring 2024 commencement, click here.

About UW-Parkside

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is committed to high-quality educational programs, creative and scholarly activities, and services responsive to its diverse student population, and its local, national and global communities. This dynamic learning community is grounded in academic excellence and focused on student success, diversity, inclusion and community engagement. The campus serves as a premier comprehensive public institution and a destination of choice, serving as a focal point of local, regional and global progress.

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