UNO Celebrates a New Class of Mavericks at December 2025 Commencement

Cheered on by friends, family, and loved ones, more than 1,100 University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) students marked the end of one chapter as students and the start of the next as alumni during December 2025 Commencement ceremonies at Baxter Arena on Friday, Dec. 19.

💡Why it matters: UNO alumni are an economic powerhouse for the city of Omaha and state of Nebraska.

• More than 79,000 Maverick alumni living in the Omaha fueled a $2.4 billion boost to the economy last year alone.

• Maverick alums are a key tool in the fight against brain drain, with 67% still living in Nebraska five years after graduation – the highest among the University of Nebraska System’s undergraduate campuses.

🔎 Zoom in:

• View the December 2025 Graduates List

• View the December 2025 Program

• Watch the 9 A.M. and 3 P.M. Ceremonies

🎤 What they’re saying:

• Joanne Li, Ph.D., CFA, UNO Chancellor: “Graduates, today is the beginning of something great: the opportunity to use your education to strengthen communities, support families, and build a Nebraska where everyone has the chance to thrive. Carry with you the Maverick Spirit, build loyalty to this place, give back to the city, and wherever you go, carry with you the values that define this university.”

• Adam Wright, Pilot CEO, former UNO football student-athlete, and keynote speaker: “You’re a Maverick, which is to say an unorthodox, independent minded person, someone who thinks for themselves, who does it their way. When the world gave you every reason to rethink your decision and quit, you thought otherwise and navigated the challenges of balancing school, community, work, sports, bills, drama, and disappointment. Irrespective of your degree, you majored in life’s realities, and that will serve you well. You should be proud of earning your degree and calling yourself a Maverick.”

• Logan Ericson, College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences student speaker: “Today, as graduates of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, we stand on a platform that took years to build. Some days felt effortless, others felt impossible. But through it all, we learned something far beyond the walls of any classroom: that falling is how we discover our strength, taking risks is how we discover our courage, and getting back up is how we discover ourselves.”

• Ashritha Reddy Turpu, College of Information Science and Technology student speaker: “UNO took a girl who arrived frightened and helped her become someone who believes in herself. It gave me mentors who saw potential before I could see it in myself. It gave me community when I thought I had none. It gave me a home when I came searching for one. And I know UNO Has hanged many of you, too, in ways big and small, visible and invisible. Every one of us grew here.”

🌟 Alumni Achievement Awards:

• Patrick Kerrigan, president of The Palm Beach Holding Company, Ltd., and chairman of Solid State Networks.

• Colleen Williams, NBC4 Los Angeles journalist and anchor.

📊 By the numbers:

• 1,105 total graduates

• 401 first-generation students

• 920 graduates from Nebraska

• 24 countries represented

• 28 states represented