UHD President Loren J. Blanchard

Dear UHD Community,

With Commencement for the Class of Fall 2022 quickly approaching, I wish to extend my early congratulations to all students graduating this semester. I know that this is an exciting time for us all as we prepare for our 73^rd Commencement on Saturday, December 10, at Minute Maid Park.

In looking ahead, I wanted to share some details about the day. Commencement for the College of Public Service and College of Humanities & Social Sciences will begin at 9 a.m. The ceremony for the College of Sciences & Technology and the Marilyn Davies College of Business will be at 3 p.m.

Deborah A. Santiago, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Excelencia in Education, America's premier authority on efforts accelerating student success with a Latino lens in higher education, will address both audiences. As an innovator, thought leader, and educational visionary, she has led research and advanced evidence-based practices and strategies for more than 20 years. She has held leadership positions with education organizations around the country, including the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans and the Los Angeles Alliance for Student Achievement. 

Ms. Santiago co-founded Excelencia in 2004 to inform policy, compel action, and collaborate with those ready to accelerate student success. Among her many contributions, she has addressed federal legislative issues in higher education at the Congressional Research Service and informed program and policy implementation at the U.S. Department of Education.  
I know she will share words of wisdom and inspiration with us, especially her unique insights and perspectives on expanding opportunities for UHD graduates, who have helped shape our University as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a Minority-Serving Institution, and the most diverse university in the South, per The Wall Street Journal.

As the special day draws closer, please refer to the Commencement webpage for updates and additional information related to our upcoming graduation exercises.

I look forward to seeing all of you at Minute Maid Park on December 10 as our students cross the stage in fulfillment of their goal to earn a degree of value. Let us celebrate our graduates in their moment, to bask in their achievements with friends, family, staff, and faculty.

Sincerely,

Loren J. Blanchard, Ph.D.
President, University of Houston-Downtown