Mainstreet Daily News
Former UF quarterback and philanthropist Tim Tebow plans to speak at the UF’s commencement ceremony scheduled for Friday.
The ceremony will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with individual college ceremonies scheduled to start on Wednesday and will conclude on Monday, May 1. Commencement schedule details are available by clicking here.
According to UF’s release, nearly 10,000 students have applied for their degrees this spring.
Tebow, who played professional football and baseball and is recognized for his philanthropy and motivational leadership, will serve as UF’s university-wide commencement speaker. He graduated from UF in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in family, youth and community sciences, led the football team to two national championships (2006 and 2008) and earned a Heisman Trophy (2007). Tebow is a speaker, a football analyst, a four-time New York Times best-selling author, and the founder of the Tim Tebow Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need. The Christian-based organization serves people in more than 70 countries.
Thursday’s doctoral commencement faculty speaker will be Joslyn Ahlgren, an instructional professor and undergraduate coordinator in the Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology in the College of Health and Human Performance.
UF will recognize Ira C. Robinson, the first Black student to receive a Ph.D. from the school, and he will receive an honorary doctoral degree during the ceremony. UF will also recognize computer scientist James Hines by awarding him an honorary doctoral degree from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for his work in software development for understanding animal populations and ecology.