MADISON, Wis. — U.S. Women’s National Soccer star star, and former Badger student and athlete, spoke at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s virtual winter commencement ceremony on Sunday.
Lavelle shared several life lessons with the graduates and spoke about her time at UW-Madison, which she referred to as the “greatest university to ever grace this planet.”
She and even reflected on her goal that brought the U.S. victory over the Netherlands in the Women’s World Cup Final last year: “That one moment didn’t make me,” Lavelle said. “It was the years of commitment and dedication to the sport I love and all the people who helped along the way that made me into the player and person I am today.”
Nearly 3,000 students graduated from the university this winter, despite being forced to finish out their college career online due to the ongoing pandemic, according to a release.
The ceremony was held virtually, and used a software designed by a group of students that allowed Badgers to choose avatars, type in degree information, and interact with a computer-generated Chancellor Rebecca Blank while receiving their diploma at a virtual Camp Randall. Graduates could even chat each other online and dance to the traditional Badger football game song “Jump Around.”
“Some of my friends who graduated last spring really missed the in-person ceremony and wanted an opportunity to connect more with others,” Zhiyue Ding, a UW-Madison senior who helped design the software, said. “I came up with this idea so that graduates could have at least some limited interaction with each other.”
An estimated 2,932 degrees were give out on Sunday — 2,117 of which were undergraduate, 526 were master’s and 289 were doctoral, the release said.
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