{"id":21391,"date":"2016-04-16T09:21:12","date_gmt":"2016-04-16T16:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spiken.wpengine.com\/news\/wgu-washington-awards-record-number-of-degrees-at-commencement-ceremony\/"},"modified":"2016-04-16T09:21:12","modified_gmt":"2016-04-16T16:21:12","slug":"wgu-washington-awards-record-number-of-degrees-at-commencement-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/news\/wgu-washington-awards-record-number-of-degrees-at-commencement-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"WGU Washington awards record number of degrees at commencement ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

WGU<\/span> Washington<\/span> awarded<\/span> nearly<\/span> 1,900<\/span> bachelor\u2019s<\/span> and<\/span> master\u2019s<\/span> degrees<\/span> to<\/span> students<\/span> throughout<\/span> the<\/span> state<\/span> at<\/span> its<\/span> fifth<\/span> annual<\/span> commencement<\/span> ceremony<\/span> Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Graduates,<\/span> family<\/span> members,<\/span> faculty<\/span> and<\/span> supporters<\/span> packed<\/span> KeyArena<\/span> in<\/span> Seattle<\/span> to<\/span> celebrate<\/span> the<\/span> online<\/span> university\u2019s<\/span> largest<\/span> class<\/span> of<\/span> graduates<\/span> yet.<\/span> The<\/span> 2016<\/span> graduating<\/span> class<\/span> is<\/span> 17<\/span> percent<\/span> larger<\/span> than<\/span> last<\/span> year\u2019s<\/span> class<\/span> of<\/span> graduates.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In<\/span> the<\/span> five<\/span> years<\/span> since<\/span> state<\/span> lawmakers<\/span> established<\/span> WGU<\/span> Washington,<\/span> the<\/span> university\u2019s<\/span> enrollment<\/span> has<\/span> grown<\/span> to<\/span> more<\/span> than<\/span> 9,200<\/span> fulltime<\/span> students<\/span> \u2013<\/span> making<\/span> it<\/span> the<\/span> sixth-largest<\/span> university<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> state.<\/span> Additionally,<\/span> more<\/span> than<\/span> 5,600<\/span> Washingtonians,<\/span> including<\/span> this<\/span> year\u2019s<\/span> class,<\/span> have<\/span> earned<\/span> degrees<\/span> from<\/span> WGU<\/span> Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This<\/span> year\u2019s<\/span> commencement<\/span> ceremony<\/span> kicks<\/span> off<\/span> what<\/span> Gov.<\/span> Jay<\/span> Inslee<\/span> has<\/span> dedicated<\/span> as<\/span> WGU<\/span> Washington<\/span> Week.<\/span> In<\/span> recognition<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> university\u2019s<\/span> fifth<\/span> anniversary,<\/span> as<\/span> well<\/span> as<\/span> its<\/span> impact<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> state<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> hard<\/span> work<\/span> of<\/span> its<\/span> students,<\/span> graduates,<\/span> faculty<\/span> and<\/span> staff,<\/span> Inslee<\/span> signed<\/span> a<\/span> proclamation<\/span> declaring<\/span> April<\/span> 16-23<\/span> WGU<\/span> Washington<\/span> Week.<\/span> That<\/span> period<\/span> of<\/span> celebration<\/span> also<\/span> includes<\/span> April<\/span> 22,<\/span> the<\/span> anniversary<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> day<\/span> in<\/span> 2011<\/span> Gov.<\/span> Christine<\/span> Gregoire<\/span> signed<\/span> into<\/span> law<\/span> the<\/span> bill<\/span> creating<\/span> WGU<\/span> Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe<\/span> are<\/span> incredibly<\/span> proud<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> academic<\/span> accomplishments<\/span> of<\/span> this<\/span> year\u2019s<\/span> graduating<\/span> class,\u201d<\/span> said<\/span> WGU<\/span> Washington<\/span> Chancellor<\/span> Jean<\/span> Floten.<\/span> \u201cThis<\/span> commencement<\/span> ceremony<\/span> \u2013<\/span> and<\/span> all<\/span> the<\/span> graduates<\/span> we<\/span> are<\/span> celebrating<\/span> today<\/span> \u2013<\/span> is<\/span> the<\/span> manifestation<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> mission<\/span> laid<\/span> out<\/span> when<\/span> WGU<\/span> Washington<\/span> was<\/span> created<\/span> five<\/span> years<\/span> ago.<\/span> Today\u2019s<\/span> event<\/span> embodies<\/span> what<\/span> the<\/span> university<\/span> is<\/span> all<\/span> about<\/span> and<\/span> is<\/span> the<\/span> perfect<\/span> start<\/span> to<\/span> WGU<\/span> Washington<\/span> Week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Saturday,<\/span> more<\/span> than<\/span> 400<\/span> graduates<\/span> from<\/span> communities<\/span> throughout<\/span> the<\/span> state<\/span> participated<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> ceremony.<\/span> Others<\/span> tuned<\/span> in<\/span> to<\/span> watch<\/span> it<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> university\u2019s<\/span> YouTube<\/span> <\/a>page<\/a>.<\/span> Graduates,<\/span> friends<\/span> and<\/span> families<\/span> throughout the<\/span> state<\/span> celebrated<\/span> commencement<\/span> on<\/span> social<\/span> media<\/span> with<\/span> the<\/span> hashtag<\/span> #WGUWA16.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Executive<\/span> Director<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Washington<\/span> Student<\/span> Achievement<\/span> Council<\/span> Dr.<\/span> Gene<\/span> Sharratt<\/span> delivered<\/span> the<\/span> keynote<\/span> address<\/span> at<\/span> the<\/span> ceremony.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

To<\/span> learn<\/span> more<\/span> about<\/span> the<\/span> university,<\/span> visit washington.wgu.edu<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WGU Washington awarded nearly 1,900 bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees to students throughout the state at its fifth annual commencement ceremony Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":21392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-21391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21391"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=21391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}