First look

USF awarded more than 6,400 degrees during spring Commencement 2022 — approximately 4,843 undergraduate, 1,295 master’s and 297 doctoral degrees.

The group featured 95 undergraduate students earning a perfect 4.0 grade point average, 224 student veterans and included graduates from 50 states and 100 nations. At 18 years old, the youngest graduate earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. The oldest graduate, 68, earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

Photo: OCTAVIO JONES

Krystin Gearhart, ’13, and Bryan McKinnies, ’19, cheer on the Bulls during the Alumni Association’s annual Life Member Appreciation Baseball Game in March. Held for the first time since 2019 due to COVID-19, the event drew hundreds to the USF Baseball Stadium for free burgers, beer and Bulls baseball.

“This was a lot of fun,” said Charles Leps, MSEM ’96, Life Member, who drove over from Melbourne Beach with his wife, Sherrie Conrad. They’d attended a few years ago but weren’t Life Members then.

“We looked on in envy at the tent,” where caterers had laid out a complimentary barbecue spread for the association’s Life Members, Leps recalled. “I said, ‘I want to be a Life Member! I want to get in that tent!’ ”

See more photos, learn why USF alumni — and non-alums — become Life Members, and check out the second installment of our 2021 Life Member honor roll, pg. 62.

Myla Clennon, held by her grandfather Mark Clennon Sr., spots a portrait of her dad, Mark Clennon ’10, during the 2022 USF Outstanding Young Alumni Awards event in April. The younger Clennon was among six Bulls aged 35 and younger recognized for their exceptional professional and community accomplishments. Honorees also include:

• Garin Flowers, ’09, Life Member

• Dr. Karim Hanna, ’10 and MD ’14

• Lauren Shumate Marcil, ’10 and MA ’14,

Life Member

• Timothy Moore, 2010-12

• Daniel Erazo Pinto, ’13

Learn more about these inspiring Bulls, including some of the lessons they’ve learned, surprises along the way, and how they found their callings, pg. 58.