USU TOOELE COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY
April 22, 2023
ACADEMIC HERALDRY
The history of academic heraldry reaches back into the early days of the university. A statute of 1321 required that all “Doctors, Licentiates and Bachelors” of the University of Columbia wear gowns. When American colleges and universities decided to adopt some suitable system of academic apparel, it seemed best to agree on one that all might follow. From a conference of various institutions’ board representatives held at Columbia University in 1895 came a code of academic dress for higher learning institutions in the United States, which most adopted.
GOWNS
The academic gown for the bachelor’s degree has pointed sleeves and is designed to be worn closed. Master’s degree gowns have an oblong sleeve, open at the wrist. The sleeve base hangs down in the traditional manner. The rear part of its oblong shape is square cut, and the front part has an arc cut away. It is designed this way so it can be worn open or closed. The gown for the doctoral degree has bell-shaped sleeves and may be worn open or closed.
COLORS
For all academic purposes, including trimmings of doctoral gowns, edging of hoods and tassels of caps, the colors associated with the different academic disciplines are as follows:
• Agriculture, Maize
• Arts, Brown
• Business, Drab
• Education and Human Services, Light Blue
• Engineering, Orange
• Humanities and Social Sciences, White
HOODS
• Natural Resources, Russet
• Science, Gold-Yellow
• School of Graduate Studies, Black
• Associate Degrees, Black
• Integrated Studies , Black
Academic hoods are worn by recipients of advanced degrees. Master’s degree hoods are three-and-one-half feet in length and lined with the official color(s) of the college or university conferring the degree, which at Utah State University are navy blue and white, displayed in the heraldic chevron. The doctoral hood consists of a larger and longer assemblage of institutional color draped over the recipient’s shoulders, falling well down the back. The binding or edging of the hoods is of velvet or velveteen, three inches wide for the master’s degree and five inches wide for the doctoral degree.
CAPS
Academic caps come in two forms: the traditional mortarboard (from Oxford) or square cap, and a soft cap that resembles an oversized beret (from Cambridge). The mortarboard used by Utah State University is worn with a tassel.
ACADEMIC PROCESSION
The commencement procession is composed of three divisions: (1) color guard, University President, Utah Board of Higher Education members, Board of Trustees, administrative officers and special guests; (2) the faculty; and (3) candidates for degrees.
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY TOOELE COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY
PROCESSIONAL
PRESENTATION OF THE COLORS
National Guard Junior Leaders Training Course, JLTC
NATIONAL ANTHEM
Debbie Winn Mayor
STUDENT SPEAKERS
Hayden Bell
Logan Merkley
ADDRESS TO GRADUATES
Gary Straquadine
Professor Emeritus, USU
CONFERRING OF DEGREES
Noelle E. Cockett
President, USU
PRESENTATION OF DIPLOMAS
Jennifer Cowburn
Associate Vice President, USU Tooele
GREETING TO GRADUATES
Steven L. Palmer
President of the USU Alumni Association & USU Trustee
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Rich Etchberger
Interim Vice President & Vice Provost, Statewide Campuses, USU
RECESSIONAL
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GARY STRAQUADINE PROFESSOR EMERITUS, USU Commencement Speaker
Gary Straquadine came to the Tooele Regional Campus in 2009 as the first dean and executive director after working for nearly three years as the associate dean of the College of Agriculture at USU. Previously, he was vice provost of academic and faculty services at USU, and he served as the head of USU’s Department of Agricultural Systems Technology and Education. Straquadine served as USU Eastern’s interim chancellor from July 2018 until his retirement in 2022, and he was appointed associate vice president/vice provost for Career and Technical Education (CTE). In this role, Straquadine oversaw CTE in Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan counties. Straquadine has been responsible for program design and development for USU in southeastern Utah and has served in many leadership roles at Utah State.
As a former dean for the Tooele Regional Campus, Straquadine is well acquainted with the place-bound teaching and learning in Utah. He also served three years as a department chair at the Ohio State University before returning to USU at the Eastern campus.
Straquadine earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from New Mexico State University in agricultural and Extension education and his doctorate in 1987 from The Ohio State University in agricultural education. Straquadine has published more than 70 professional manuscripts and scientific articles on agricultural and science education and related areas and has been awarded nearly $750,000 in extramural funding.
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HAYDEN BELL Student Speaker
After he graduated from Box Elder High School in 2008, Hayden Scott Alfred Bell entered higher education at Weber State University, where he studied radiology and nuclear medicine. Soon after, Hayden started working in the IT department for Utah State University and decided to transfer in the spring of 2015 — and change his major from pre-med to business and technology systems.
Hayden is also a business owner and started his first business “Sanctuary Saunas” in 2021, building custom off grid backyard saunas using some of his own inventions. Hayden has more hobbies than most, from 3D printing toys and fidget devices that he donates to a children’s therapy office to playing the guitar and bodybuilding. Hayden enjoys exploring the outdoors and studying Noetic and Neuroscience in his free time. His fascination with technology is behind every hobby and interest pushing him towards his lifelong aspirations to change the future for the better.
Hayden graduated with his associate degree from USU in 2020 and his bachelor’s in technology systems in higher education with a minor in management of information systems in December 2022. Since graduation, Hayden has accepted the role of Technology Specialist and representative for facilitator broadcast support for USU statewide campuses, and he continues to grow his personal business.
LOGAN MERKLEY Student Speaker
Logan Merkley is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in information systems. Growing up in the Uintah Basin of Eastern Utah, Logan loved being in smaller towns where he could see the stars at night. Part of what drew him to Tooele was the darker night sky compared to Salt Lake City’s. Logan worked for the Utah State University Tooele campus from 2017 to 2018 as a classroom facilitator. He would spend his evenings assisting faculty and students after working at his full-time job during the day.
He has been married for 15 years and has six wonderful children. Logan has lived in Tooele for the last 10 years and has enjoyed every minute. He enjoys fishing, hiking, traveling, and playing video games. Now that he has finished his degree, Logan is looking forward to spending nights with his family instead of cooped up in his office doing homework.
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2023 CANDIDATES FOR GRADUATION
Names listed in this program do not constitute graduation.
INSTITUTIONAL CERTIFICATE OF PROFICIENCY
COMPUTER SCIENCE
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Jacob Smith
ASSOCIATE DEGREES
PROVOST’S OFFICE
Laurens H. Smith Provost & Chief Academic Officer
ASSOCIATE OF APPLIED SCIENCE — AVIATION TECHNOLOGY
Maria Anderson
ASSOCIATE OF APPLIED SCIENCE — NURSING
Haley Bentley
Abbie Blair +
JaneAnne Colovich +
Gwen Fischer +
Michelle Fitzgerald
Lizbeth Hernandez-Flores
Ashley Johnson +
Kellie Myer
Monica Porter +
Brooke Quinn
Amy Rasmuson ++
Alyssa Rogers ++
Kai Antoinette Winkler
ASSOCIATE OF ARTS GENERAL STUDIES
James Bigger
ASSOCIATE OF SCIENCE — CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Sarah Lawrence
Nayelli Lomeli
Westley Melton
Kyle Quarnberg
Rachel Stone
ASSOCIATE OF SCIENCE GENERAL STUDIES
Vienna Aagard DeAngelo
Taylor Bryan ++
Emma Frank ++
Rylie Heuser
Luna Hoffman
Bailey Levensailor
Vance Luna-Trujillo
Amanda Meek ++
Talia Norris
Rebekah Roberts ++
Myleigh Scott ++
Dominic Silvestri
The quality of performance in academic work enables those indicated to be graduates with distinction: ++High Honors .......................................................................................................... grade point average of 3.75 to 4.00 +Honors grade point average of 3.50 to 3.74
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BACHELOR’S DEGREES
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE & APPLIED SCIENCES
Kenneth L. White, Dean
BUSINESS EDUCATION
Blake Hervat *
TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS
Hayden Bell
Shante Fox
Dack Ragland
JON M. HUNTSMAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Douglas D. Anderson, Dean
ACCOUNTING
Julie Andrews
ECONOMICS
Todd Castagno
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Logan Merkley *
MANAGEMENT
Grayson Denney
EMMA ECCLES JONES COLLEGE OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SERVICES
Alan L. Smith, Dean
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
Marnie Davis ***
Valori Layton ***
Rebecca Mitchell
Whitney Reynolds *
NURSING
Kerah Roberts *
Breana Voigt ***
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PSYCHOLOGY
Chloe Coon *
Jayden Cooper **
Hailey Hopkins
Ariana Rae *
SPECIAL EDUCATION
Connie Annette Black
Paulette Brinker *
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES
Joseph P. Ward, Dean
HISTORY
James Hulett *
SOCIAL WORK
Britnie Anderson
Angela Cullimore
Kaitlin Paskvan **
Kristy Rhoades
Rachel Thunnell
Valencina Valerio *
SOCIOLOGY
Westley Melton
Kyle Quarnberg
PROVOST’S OFFICE
Laurens H. Smith, Provost & Chief Academic Officer
INTEGRATED STUDIES
Lydia Bagley
Kimberly Sullivan
Jocelyn Tidwell
The quality of performance in academic work enables those indicated to be graduates with distinction:
***Summa Cum Laude grade point average of 3.95 to 4.00
**Magna Cum Laude. ............................................................................................... grade point average of 3.80 to 3.94
*Cum Laude. grade point average of 3.50 to 3.79
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SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
Richard Cutler
COLLEGE
Vice
Provost of Graduate StudiesMASTER’S DEGREES
OF AGRICULTURE & APPLIED SCIENCES
Melodyann Jones
Master of Dietetics Administration in Agriculture & Applied Sciences
Zachary Millar
Master of Aviation Science in Agriculture & Applied Sciences
Mats Peterson
Master of Education in Agriculture & Applied Sciences
JON M. HUNTSMAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
William Craig
Master of Business Administration
Thomas Goaslind
Master of Business Administration
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES
Aline De Castro Deus Reis
Master of Second Language Teaching
Andrea Batista-Cacciatore
Master of Social Work
Carol Erekson
Master of Social Work
Rebekah Furniss
Master of Social Work
Michelle Jarest
Master of Social Work
Myra Larsen
Master of Social Work
Lilian Lopez
Master of Social Work
Tennille Miller
Master of Social Work
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Sally Morris
Master of Social Work
Austin Myslinski
Master of Social Work
Kendall Paxman-Black
Master of Social Work
Cortney Prestwich
Master of Social Work
Angela Rivera
Master of Social Work
Brooke Rowe
Master of Social Work
Harlee Smith
Master of Social Work
Chelsea Strong
Master of Social Work
Melissa Swan
Master of Social Work
Kolyn Tacy
Master of Social Work
Amber Thornton
Master of Social Work
Jennifer Westover
Master of Social Work
Miriam Wilkinson
Master of Social Work
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
Nathan Edwards
Master of Computer Science
DOCTORAL DEGREES
EMMA ECCLES JONES COLLEGE OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SERVICES
Amanda Plaizier
Doctor of Philosophy
Cody Reutzel
Doctor of Philosophy
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UTAH BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Lisa Michele Church, Chair
Jesselie Barlow Anderson, Vice Chair
Grace Acosta
Stan L. Albrecht
Julie Beck
Stacey K. Bettridge
Rich Christiansen
Sanchaita Datta
Hope Eccles
Korianne Gibson
Patricia Jones
Arthur E. Newell
Shawn Newell
Steve Starks
Scott L. Theurer
Richard Wheeler
Xitlalli Villanueva
David R. Woolstenhulme, Commissioner of Higher Education
UTAH STATE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Kent K. Alder, Chair
John Y. Ferry, Vice Chair
Gina Gagon
David H. Huntsman
Kacie Malouf
Wayne L. Niederhauser
Steven L. Palmer
David A. Petersen
Abraham Rodriguez
Jacey Skinner
Tessa White
Janalyn G. Brown, Secretary to the USU Board of Trustees
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY TOOELE ADVISORY COUNCIL
Jennifer Cowburn
Jim Gowans
Robert Gowans
Jared Hamner
Melissa Lawrence
Alison McCoy
Sharlynn Mueller
Scott Rounds
Doug Sagers
Scott Wardle
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USU TOOELE LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT STATEMENT
We recognize Utah State University Tooele resides on the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Aipimbaa Newe, the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes, and the People of Deep Creek Valley, who today are the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute. In offering this land acknowledgment, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty, history, and experiences.
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