Graduation: Did you know?

Finals 2002 is a celebration of achievement, but it has many other facets as well. Here is a glimpse of the people, the scholarship and the effort behind the event:

• 3,255 baccalaureate degrees, 505 first professional degrees and 1,854 graduate degrees (including 292 Ph.D.s, 31 Doctor of Education degrees and one Doctor of Juridical Science degree) will be awarded.

• Seven students are graduating with perfect cumulative grade-point averages of 4.0 – Rebecca Ann Bagby, Sara Marie Girovasi, Jonathan Blandon Grimm, Kellan Rae Harne, Heather Renee Rudd, Holly Hill Sinclair and Allen Ukritnukun.

• The oldest degree recipient is 68-year-old John Howze of Alexandria. The youngest recipients are Ian German Mesner, 19 years, 2 months old; and Damita Charmaine Allen, 19 years, 8 months old.

• Twelve sets of twins will receive degrees, as will one mother-son pair, Kathryn and Christopher Ganske.

• University employees prepare for Finals by setting up 37,000 chairs, putting up 6,500 feet of roping and erecting 2,500 square feet of stages.

• Finally, a measure of the service that U.Va. students provide after graduating: The University ranks seventh among colleges and universities in the nation for the number of alumni serving in the Peace Corps. Currently, 58 U.Va. alumni are Peace Corps volunteers.