UI hits milestone of 500,000 degrees
Published Online May 10, 2006
By Christine Des Garennes
URBANA – Jennifer Reardon
received the e-mail last week.
On Sunday she will be the 500,000th student to receive a degree from
the University of Illinois.
"I didn't really believe it at first. I thought it was odd,"
she said.
Then the UI called her parents, and her parents called Reardon.
"It's so bizarre, but it's cool," she said Tuesday.
She and degree recipient number 500,001, a.k.a. Mark Cochran, posed for
a photo in front of Alma Mater on Tuesday.
Sometime around December or January, staff with the UI's Admissions and
Records office realized the university was 3,814 degrees away from
awarding the 500,000th degree, said UI spokeswoman Robin Kaler. So as
students' names were added to the pending degree list, they started
counting.
"It was an honor to come here in the first place and to be part of
this milestone makes it even more so," said Cochran, who said he was
surprised the UI hadn't issued more than 500,000 degrees by now.
As it turns out, the university, founded in 1867, did not actually
bestow degrees in its early years, Kaler said.
Cochran, a computer science major from Mount Pulaski, has a job lined
up with Acquity, a technical consulting firm in Chicago. He plans to move
to the city shortly after graduation.
As for Reardon, a
psychology major from Bolingbrook, she will look for a job working with
children. She wanted to take a year off before attending graduate school
for psychology.
"It's been really great. The years have flown by really
fast," she said.
Among the perks of being No. 500,000 and 500,001: a shout-out from
Chancellor Richard Herman during Commencement and reserved seating tickets
for friends and family.
And a free mug.
