Celebrate the Class of 2023 at May Commencement
Pacific University will celebrate its May Commencement with two ceremonies on Saturday, May 20, on the Forest Grove Campus.
Nearly 850 students will earn undergraduate and graduate degrees this May, marking the culmination of years of study. Trustee and local business leader Manuel Castañeda will be recognized with an honorary doctorate, and retired optometry faculty member Lee Ann Remington ’83, OD ’84, MS ‘92 will receive the Kamelia Massih Prize for a Distinguished Optometrist.
Pacific’s spring commencement day begins at 9 a.m. with the undergraduate ceremony, where students in the colleges of Arts & Sciences, Business, Education, and Optometry will receive bachelor’s degrees after studying in more than 60 different majors and minors.
Among them are this year’s undergraduate valedictorian Dalton Sikes, a creative writing and literature double major. Originally from Southern California, Sikes grew up in Hillsboro and graduated from Liberty High School. At Pacific, he has served as a writing tutor in the Center for Learning, student managing editor for the Silk Road Review and Pacific’s Literature by Undergraduates Magazine, peer mentor for the Mentor Collective, and president of the English Club. He is an avid writer who has presented at several conferences and has been published in several literary magazines.
Dalton will deliver the valedictorian keynote address, and Dr. Paul Snell, associate professor of politics and government, will deliver a faculty keynote.
Also during the morning ceremony, Pacific University will bestow trustee and business leader Manuel Castañeda with an honorary doctorate degree.
Commencement Day continues with the afternoon ceremony at 1:30 p.m., when students with earn master's and doctoral degrees in social work, business, speech-language pathology, education and teaching, pharmacy, athletic training, physical therapy, vision science, optometry, and health and medical sciences.
The afternoon ceremony also will feature the presentation of the Kamelia Massih Prize for a Distinguished Optometrist, which this year goes to optometry alumna and professor emeritus Dr. Lee Ann Remington. Remington will deliver the afternoon keynote address.
Both ceremonies take place at Hanson Stadium on Pacific’s Forest Grove Campus. Guest tickets are free but required to attend the ceremonies.
Pacific hosts three commencement days each year, including the dual ceremonies in May, a June ceremony for students in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program, and a graduate-level commencement in August.