UT grads honored with burnt orange

Austin (KXAN) - The UT tower will be burnt orange tonight to honor 3,100 students who graduated at the end of this fall semester.

School officials say of those graduates 2,300 were undergraduates, 512 received their master’s degrees, 222 were doctoral students and 15 graduated from the school of law.

This weekends graduation ceremonies will not include a university-wide commencement ceremony but respective colleges and schools will have smaller commemorations. The Texas Exes alumni will hold an unofficial gathering at the Etter-Harbin Center, located at 2110 San Jacinto Blvd. from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The tower will also be lit on Sunday in honor of the graduating students.

Fall convocation activities:

Saturday, Dec. 8

9 a.m.: Cockrell School of Engineering, Frank Erwin Center. Speaker: Dr. Hector de Jesus Ruiz, founder and chief executive officer of Bull Ventures LLC.

9 a.m.: School of Nursing, Bass Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. Speaker: Toni Inglis, MSN, RN, CNS, FAAN, who was an Outstanding Graduate Student from The University of Texas at Austin in 1992.

9 a.m.: School of Social Work, Hogg Auditorium. Speaker: A student will be chosen by her/his peers as the speaker.

Noon: College of Communication, Frank Erwin Center. Speaker: Chris Bell, former U.S. representative and Houston city councilman.

Noon: College of Education, Bass Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. Speaker: Dr. Richard Reddick, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin.

1 p.m.: Jackson School of Geosciences, McCullough Theatre. Speaker: Brewster McCracken, executive director of Pecan Street Inc., a smart-grid research and commercialization consortium headquartered at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a former member of the Austin City Council and served as the council's mayor pro tem.

3 p.m.: College of Fine Arts, Hogg Auditorium. Speaker: Dr. Lucien Douglas. senior associate chair in the Department of Theatre and Dance, where he also teaches acting and directing and is head of the acting program.

3 p.m.: College of Liberal Arts, Frank Erwin Center. Speaker: Dr. Aletha Huston, Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor Emeritus in Child Development at The University of Texas at Austin.

6:30 p.m.: School of Architecture, Goldsmith Hall Gallery. No speaker.

Sunday, Dec. 9

10 a.m.: McCombs School of Business, Frank Erwin Center. Speaker: Steven R. LeBlanc, founding partner, CapRidge Partners LLC.

2:30 p.m.: College of Natural Sciences, Frank Erwin Center. Speaker: Dr. Tanya Paull, the Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Arnold, Sr. Regents Chair in Molecular Biology, College of Natural Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin.