Aaron Murray, Tavarres King among 68 Bulldogs graduating Friday
A long list of Bulldogs graduating at spring commencement on Friday at Sanford Stadium. In fact, 68 UGA student-athletes will receive degrees.
Some of notable football players grabbing their sheepskin include: Quarterback Aaron Murray, wide receiver Tavarres King and offensive lineman Clint Boling. Murray, who has two years of eligibility remaining, got it done in three-and-a-half years. Also of note, the 11 gridiron graduates brings to 222 the number who have received degrees under head coach Mark Richt.
Here’s the whole list:
Baseball
Kevin Ruiz, Finance, Alpharetta, Ga.
Men’s Basketball
Matt Bucklin, Marketing, Marietta, Ga.; Connor Nolte, Masters in Sport Management, Alpharetta, Ga.; Dustin Ware, Sport Management, Powder Springs, Ga.
Women’s Basketball
Brittney Crews, Biology, Jefferson, Ga.
Equestrian
Alex Andes, Broadcast News, Atlanta, Ga.; Kelsey Berry, Marketing, Alpharetta, Ga.; Ali Eidson, Consumer Journalism, Tuscola, Texas; Sarah Gravely, Management Information Systems, Palmetto, Fla.; Katie Hagerty, Art/Fabric Design, Wakefield, R.I.; Hayley Haskins, Fashion Merchandising, Alpharetta, Ga.; Tara Maloney, Management Information Systems, Milton, Ga.; Diandra St. Hilaire, Criminal Justice and Psychology, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Kelly Truesdell, Health Promotion, Brights Grove, Ontario; Katelyn Van Allen, History, Sorrento, Fla.
Football
John Bodin, Anthropology, Covington, Ga.; Brandon Bogotay, Family Financial Planning, San Diego, Calif.; Clint Boling, Risk Management & Insurance, Alpharetta, Ga.; Ty Frix, Biological Engineering, Calhoun, Ga.; Billy Johnson, Sport Management, Braselton, Ga.; Tavarres King, Social Studies Education, Mount Airy, Ga.; Jeremy Longo, Housing, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Aaron Murray, Psychology, Tampa, Fla.; Jeremy Sulek, Finance, Dacula, Ga.; Wes Van Dyk, Management, Highland Park, Texas; Jason Veal, Finance, Lilburn, Ga.
Men’s Golf
Lowery Thomas, Risk Management & Insurance, Auburn, Ala.
Women’s Golf
Marta Silva Zamora, Communication Studies, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Gymnastics
Amber Trani, Advertising, Richlandtown, Pa.
Soccer
Traci Dreesen, Biology and Psychology, Lakewood, Colo.; Marah Falle, Exercise & Sport Science, Lilburn, Ga.; Mariah Krase, Sociology, Spring, Texas; Ashley Miller, Child & Family Development, Lake Mary, Fla.
Softball
Alisa Goler, Masters in Recreation & Leisure, Frankfort, Ill.; Brianna Hesson, Sociology, Sugar Hill, Ga.; Brittney Hubbard, Magazines, Victorville, Calif.; Sarah McCloud, Health Promotion, Celina, Texas; Laura Trout, Magazines, Summerville, S.C.
Swimming and Diving
Matt Bartlett, Risk Management & Insurance, Atlanta, Ga.; Bill Cregar, Biology, Sewell, N.J.; Mark Dylla, Finance and Real Estate, Littleton, Colo.; Lauren English, Communication Science & Disorders, Lincoln Park, N.J.; Kevin Frankenfeld, Economics and Finance, Austin, Texas; Colleen Haase, Psychology, Rockville, Md.; Martin Kata, Health & Physical Education, Martinez, Ga.; Todd McGraw, Real Estate, Beckley, W. Va.; Michelle McKeehan, Communication Studies, Greenwood, Ind.; Courtney Monsees, Psychology, San Jose, Calif.; Emily Montesinos, Geography, Riverdale, Ga.; Hannah Moore, Landscape Architecture, Moultrie, Ga.; Sara Nicponski, Communication Studies, Salt Lake City, Utah; Adam Parker, Biology, Maryville, Tenn.; Morgan Scroggy, Agricultural Engineering, Aurora, Ore.; Wendy Trott, International Affairs, Capetown, S. Africa
Men’s Tennis
Javier Garrapiz, Economics, Huesca, Spain; Will Reynolds, Communication Studies, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Christian Vitulli, Landscape Architecture, Mombasa, Kenya
Track and Field
Michael Ayers, Consumer Economics, Nashville, Tenn.; Tommy Barrineau, Health Promotion, Burke, Va.; Hadley Ferguson, Fashion Merchandising, Fernandina Beach, Fla.; Joseph Hackney, History, Marietta, Ga.; Cory Holman, Communication Studies, Huber Heights, Ohio; Emily Houston, Advertising, Jensen Beach, Fla.; Aaron LaGarde, Communication Studies, Gray, La.; Brian Moore, Sociology, Willow Grove, Pa.; Trevor Sprague, Biology, Dunwoody, Ga.; Rachel Travis, Masters in Marketing Research, St. Charles, Mo.; Carin Walker, Telecommunication Arts, Alpharetta, Ga.
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202 comments Add your comment
RAB1482
May 9th, 2012
9:00 am
Yaaaayyy, Murray graduated! Bring on Hutson Ma—what? Murray will still be back as our starting QB in the fall?? Damn!
JB
May 9th, 2012
9:00 am
See 8:38 post for why we never stop hating Tech.
dawggirl
May 9th, 2012
9:08 am
Also a certain someone didn’t respond to the poster that mentioned his UGA athlete grad son who is a paramedic and firefighter. That really tells you all you need to know.
Karma, folks, karma.
Congrats to ALL of the UGA grads!
JB
May 9th, 2012
9:15 am
Bottom line, in life, living in Georgia, you will probably never need a Tech Engineer, but you will need a Vet, a lawyer, a Banker, a teacher, a farmer, a doctor, a counselor, a police,fireman or EMT, a nurse. etc.
Saldiven
May 9th, 2012
9:19 am
@GTBob: You wrote:
“We are proud that the football players graduate at about the same rate as regular students. It means we are not coddling them. It’s not GT’s job to graduate these players, that is something they have to accomplish on their own.”
That is completely incorrect. From GA Tech’s own fact sheet, the six year graduation rate for undergraduate GA Tech students has ranged from 70% for class of 1996 to 81% for class of 2003 (the latest data on their website). According to an AJC story from October 26 of 2011, the GA Tech football program had a graduation rate of 55%. If you look at the graduation rate for all student athletes, the rate was 77%, which is close, but still slightly lower, than the overall graduation rate. That graduation rate for student athletes was the lowest for all ACC schools, and is was lower than UGA’s graduation rate for student athletes. (Ironically, the 55% rate reported for football players in 2011 was an increase in the rate of 49% reported from 2010.) In 2011, UGA graduated 65% of football players and 79% for all student athletes.
Also, as to the “difficulty” of the GA Tech business school. The business management degree is nick-named the “M-train” on the Tech campus because of the general perception of how easy it is to obtain that degree relative to virtually every other potential major on campus. That same business management degree is the most common degree program for GA Tech football students. This really isn’t any different from most D-1 schools, though. Most football players gravitate towards degree programs that are perceived as easier to complete. My only point in bringing this up is to debunk your attempt at painting the GA Tech business management degree as being anything remotely as difficult as the technical degree programs Tech offers; as I pointed out, even the students on campus don’t buy that line of thought.
So, GTBob, if you’re going to make the kind of assertions like the one I quoted above, you might want to do some research first. It makes you look a little silly when someone can spend 10 minutes on google and discover that your statement is completely inaccurate.
Stank Wren
May 9th, 2012
9:21 am
I would wager that a lot of the folks on this blog that are trying to poke fun at the student athlete’s degree have never set foot on a college campus. It comes down to jealousy, pure and simple. Many of the idiots that post here have never been in a college classroom and then have the nerve to try and bash the accomplishments of those who do. No matter what school you pull for you should be proud of any person that obtains a college degree. A bunch of classless losers in here this morning.
bucket
May 9th, 2012
9:28 am
I see “UGA Obsession Disorder” is alive and well for all our Tech brethren! I have a nephew who graduated with his Master’s degree from Tech last Friday and our family is proud of him, just as we were when he graduated with his bachelor’s degree last year with a perfect grade point average! Whether young people graduate from Tech or UGA or wherever, we should applaud their accomplishment and wish them well!
Top Row Dog
May 9th, 2012
9:36 am
Saldiven, your post should be pushpinned, if that’s possible. I’ll check back later to see the CheatTeeBoob response
Contractor
May 9th, 2012
10:07 am
Saldiven,
I’m a Georgia fan, but have quite a few good buddies go to Georgia Tech. Most were Civil, Biomedical, Structural, and mechanical Engineers, but a few were Management majors, and they were as smart as the others, if not smarter. Making over $100,000 your second year out of college is not shabby at all. I am aware of the M-Train moniker as it is a little of a running joke about how all the athletes are enrolled an it is not near as challenging as most engineering majors, but that doesn’t keep it from being ranked nationally, just like Georgia’s program.
I think the issue here is the fact that half of these easy majors are intended to squeeze athletes through the system instead of providing them with an education that will benefit them and society when they graduate and their professional aspirations are finally over. Heard a story yesterday where a woman that has a Masters in Medevil History was in food stamps and welfare and feels the public owes her because she can’t find a job. So yeah, amazing job getting educated, but if you’re getting educated in something there is little to know use for then you have failed yourself, because it is essentially worthless and you have to find another career. These Georgia athletes with Finance, Accounting, Engineering, and Physics degrees have bright and successful futures ahead because there is an industry demand, and Psychology, General Studies, and Social Studies Education is not gonna have the demand needed to support all of these graduates aroun the country with those same degrees. I commend them in their studies, but they need to start being more selective about their degree of study, especially when it’s a free $50,000 a year education they are receiving, heck, they have all of the tools at their disposal to succeed a n make it happen, just take some personal responsibility.
AGTFAN53
May 9th, 2012
10:11 am
Congratulations graduates. Good luck in your future endeavors. You go armed with a degree from a fine university, regardless of the jabs we GT fans aim at it from time to time.
Contractor
May 9th, 2012
10:14 am
Sorry for all of the typos. Guess I should have proof read after using my phone to type this.
Dawg Alum
May 9th, 2012
10:18 am
Congratulations to all the athletes for earning their degrees. I hope I didn’t offend anyone by attacking the GT degrees? They are all great honors……I was just sick and tired of GTBob thinking only GT degrees mean anything. And to another blogger’s point, if you have a heart attack you sure aren’t going to call a Tech management major…..you’ll probably be saved by a UGa grad, so LIVE with it Techies (no pun intended)!
Hoopster
May 9th, 2012
10:23 am
Uh yeah Eisendogche, typically Rhodes Scholarships have been given to individuals that have received Bachelor of Arts degrees, while Tech students receive Bachelor of Science degrees. But don’t let those facts get in the way of your wonderful story………….toad.
It is what it is
May 9th, 2012
10:23 am
Congrats!!!
claytondawg
May 9th, 2012
11:30 am
I agree with Jddawg with being very proud of ANYONE, athlete or not–who gets his/her degree. Good comment from Monkey, also. I got both my Bachelor’s and Master’s at UGA, and, quite frankly, proud of myself.. So is my family– good enough for me. Go ‘Dogs!!!
The Ugly Truth
May 9th, 2012
11:50 am
Actually liberal arts degrees are great for providing students with an overall broad exposure to a variety of studies that make for an informed and balanced education. Remember that graduation is called Commencement which implies a beginning as it signifies a beginning of a journey through the rest of your life.
The next step for many of these students is post graduate work such as Law School, Medical School, a PHD program, an MBA program while working to gain business experience, Pharmacy school, Vet school, Military officer training programs in one of the branches, the Stated Department qualifications test or something similar, etc.
A Liberal Arts degree is like a ticket to get up on the train terminal platform and there are trains leaving in a number of different directions with each one offering a career in a different profession.
Its not like being an engineer and being assigned to a cubicle and as the years progress and you gain in seniority doing pretty much the same thing every day of your life you qualify for a bigger cubicle closer to the window. Maybe when you are old a nd gray you can actually get the corner office with a wall and a door that you can close. That is a sad life and I can understand why Tech people are so bitter and negative towards lif, their spouse who didn’t go to Tech and other people who also didn’t go to Tech.
Tech people are really sad, hostile, bitter, and abusive towards others because they are so unhappy with their lives. I have known a lot of them and they are all pretty much the same.
I am so glad I did not choose to go there and neither did my kids. Thank God.
Bill
May 9th, 2012
12:02 pm
Enter your comments here
Pitbull
May 9th, 2012
12:03 pm
Congrats to Mark Richt for graduating 222 players in 11 years which is pretty much an entire recruiting class each year and for winning 106 games during that same period of time.
Mark, you may not have won a NC and that is OK. We have been in the SEC Championship game 5 times since you came to Athens and won it twice. We never went to the SECCG before you got here.
I believe your bowl record is 8-3.
You have run a clean winning program, have never embarrassed us, and we have never been placed on probation during your tenure, unlike the dirty program over on North Avenue which just ended one four year probation and is beginning another four year probation after forfeiting an ACC championship.
Oh and lets never forget that the reason Tech folks hate you is that you are 10-1 against Tech.
Delbert D.
May 9th, 2012
12:10 pm
@Salviden “(Ironically, the 55% rate reported for football players in 2011 was an increase in the rate of 49% reported from 2010.) In 2011, UGA graduated 65% of football players and 79% for all student athletes.”
If you look back at my previous posts, I’m congratulating the Georgia grads on their accomplishment. As to Georgia’s GSR being higher than Georgia Tech’s, let’s keep this in perspective. Those rates change as the 10-year-old data changes. Here is a quote from the AJC and Greg McGarity last summer after the GSR figures were announced:
“McGarity acknowledged “a small dip” in football from last year, but noted that the football team’s GSR has jumped from 48 percent four years ago.
Bill
May 9th, 2012
12:10 pm
As an undergrad and law grad at UGA, and football fan, GTBob has got in partially right. While I love watching college football, the system is a sewer. It’s disgraceful that UGA, and about all IA schools have so many garbage majors (housing, rec. management, family finance, etc.) largely to house all the dumb jocks (certainly many jocks aren’t dumb).
But, get real Bob, GT has been doing the same thing for years. Remember that tight-end that UGA kicked out and Tech “hired.”
A more general comment: While GT overall has a higher national rating, UGA is catching up. The average GT student is not that much higher academically from current UGA students. UGA has double or more freshmen each year. Take the SAT scores of the top 50% of UGA students and compare with GT’s class; bet you won’t see much difference. Plus, the stereotype is so true—GT–nerds for life.
GTBob
May 9th, 2012
12:13 pm
A Liberal Arts degree is like a ticket to get up on the train terminal platform and there are trains leaving in a number of different directions with each one offering a career in a different profession.
A liberal arts degree is pretty much completely useless. Sure, some will find success in spite of having one, but the majority of Liberal Arts students end up with low paying jobs completely unrelated to anything they did in college. There is a reason why China is eliminating a lot of Liberal Arts degree programs in their schools. It’s because the graduates are basically unemployable.
Q
May 9th, 2012
12:16 pm
“There is a reason why China is eliminating a lot of Liberal Arts degree programs in their schools. It’s because the graduates are basically unemployable.”
Cool, let’s be just like China.
GTBob
May 9th, 2012
12:19 pm
Cool, let’s be just like China.
Not every idea that China has is a bad one.
gdawginkalamazoo
May 9th, 2012
12:24 pm
Congrats kids! Great job! Welcome to the real world.
The Ugly Truth
May 9th, 2012
12:27 pm
Remember, some students go to college for an education and some students go to college to get a job. An education is a life long ongoing process that basically begins with an undergraduate degree and will include post graduate studies and training and seminars in whatever career you ultimately decide to pursue.
Don’t judge, although I know you Techies have a problem refraining from doing that.
Texas Tea
May 9th, 2012
12:27 pm
I wouldn’t mind being China financially seeing as they own a large portion of our debt and that ghey’re making a ton of interest off our wreck less spending as a country.
Skokie Dog
May 9th, 2012
12:32 pm
I hope that Jadeveon Clowney isn’t hanging around at the graduation ceremony. It would be sad to see Aaron Murray fumble his diploma.
GTBob
May 9th, 2012
12:34 pm
Remember, some students go to college for an education and some students go to college to get a job.
The only problem with that is that you seem to think all of the athletes listed above with useless majors are going to continue on to law school or get their PhD. Sorry to inform you but most of them aren’t and most other student’s aren’t either. That is why the average salaries for UGA graduates are so low, because they have so many graduates who basically have nothing waiting for them after college. For the ones who are on the spiritual path to educational enlightenment as you describe, good for them, and hopefully they will be able to afford to live.
Stank Wren
May 9th, 2012
12:42 pm
Here’s another shocking fact for those bashing the degrees earned by the UGA athletes: Just because you graduate with a degree in a certain field does not lock you into a lifetime career. Many of the folks that I work with (Fortune 100 company) have degrees that have absolutly nothing to do with the position they are currently in. A college degree opens doors and allows upward mobility. Not bashing engineers but they tend to stay in the field from which the have a degree. As a whole, that is the exception more than the rule. Go Dawgs. Class of ‘04
The Ugly Truth
May 9th, 2012
12:44 pm
So GTBob how do you know so much about UGA graduates?
You seem to be just another typical know it all Georgia Tech blowhard.
Did you even go to college and if you did, did you go to Tech and live the typical Tech life where you were unpopular at work because you lacked people skills so you never went very far and your wife left you and took the kids because she got tired of you talking down to her because she did not go to Tech? Divorced, alone and bitter now, Bob? Thought so.
Forgive me, but I have known so many of you.
Delbert D.
May 9th, 2012
12:46 pm
Here is some advice for the graduates, and I hope maybe some calming statements for the furious posters at work today.
Aaron Murray’s Psych degree is a natural feeder for an MBA with a focus in marketing for his next two years at Georgia. He may (or may not, depending on the courses he has taken) need the MBA prerequisite accelerated courses in accounting and economics and possibly others (I had to take computer programming). He’ll also need to score well on the GMAT. I don’t doubt that he will, as it is an aptitude test.
Having said that, I think the other Georgia football graduates that received the non-science or non-professional degrees face some uncertainty. Housing has some correlation with real estate and property management, but some further study may be in order. If you look back at my post from last night, it’s possible to overcome even anthropology; those 4 courses I took while majoring in it ended up counting as electives, and by the time I graduated (5 colleges attended), I had an excess of electives for sure.
This I can save with surety: the military doesn’t care what your major was; you can qualify for OCS if you can satisfy the mental and physical requirements. That would be a very smart choice for many graduates in this uncertain economy. If you are an athlete and thinking Marine Corps, you need to love to run long distances, and you need to be able to climb a 20-foot rope.
Gator Mike
May 9th, 2012
12:48 pm
Congratulations to al of the DAWG Grads regardless of their major. They took advantage of an opportunity which is good for UGA and our entire country.
Hopefully my Gator Athletes are also hooked on getting their degrees.
GTBob
May 9th, 2012
12:58 pm
your wife left you and took the kids because she got tired of you talking down to her because she did not go to Tech? Divorced, alone and bitter now, Bob? Thought so.
Not even close. It is a good story though. You keep thinking that Housing and Leisure Studies is the key to success and life happiness.
The Ugly Truth
May 9th, 2012
1:06 pm
So its your boyfriend that left you, huh Bob?
The key to success is people skills, building relationships, and a positive attitude. But you should know that.
Maybe you could take a course.
DawgInaTruck
May 9th, 2012
1:12 pm
“Hopefully my Gator Athletes are also hooked on getting their degrees.”
Thanks Mike, I’m sure the vast majority are. Your graduates are to be congratulated as well.
Homepage | MrSEC
May 9th, 2012
1:13 pm
[...] Quarterback Aaron Murray will be among those graduating at Georgia on [...]
GTBob
May 9th, 2012
1:13 pm
So its your boyfriend that left you, huh Bob?
Nope. My boyfriend is still with me and seems to be happy. Thank you for your concern though.
GTBob
May 9th, 2012
1:16 pm
The key to success is people skills, building relationships, and a positive attitude. But you should know that.
All of that means nothing if you have no intelligence or tangible skills to back it up. Being a Leisure Studies major with a great attitude isn’t going to make you any money.
Stank Wren
May 9th, 2012
1:18 pm
“You keep thinking that Housing and Leisure Studies is the key to success and life happiness.”
GTBob – You keep on thinking that trolling on sports blogs, making fun of kids graduating from college, and picking fights with random strangers on the internet is the key to success and life happiness. What a loser
To Paraphrase Bill Curry
May 9th, 2012
1:27 pm
“You keep on thinking that trolling on sports blogs, making fun of kids graduating from college, and picking fights with random strangers on the internet is the key to success and life happiness. What a loser”
Now that is funny. I’d hate to be the person that was directed at. Actually, I’d hate to be that person anyway.
GTBob
May 9th, 2012
1:42 pm
You keep on thinking that trolling on sports blogs, making fun of kids graduating from college, and picking fights with random strangers on the internet is the key to success and life happiness.
It is a nice form of entertainment for me.
Walk the GT campus and simply look around
May 9th, 2012
1:50 pm
The bulk of GT football players, basketball players on campus at GT are NOT the profile of most all of GT’s pedestrians waking around. I was there not three weeks ago, as a family member of mine is a PhD in her field and I viewed t ons and tons of Middle Easterners and Indians and such but few basketball kids or football kids. They must have all been in class.
GT has special programs for the vast majority of their jocks and that is that. Drvie around like I did and view it ………………..very apparent that most African Amercians DO NOT attend GT in the same numbers as other minorities.
Loni
May 9th, 2012
1:52 pm
Since you do not know, a major in “Magazines” is a degree from the University’s Journalism school which is one of the most difficult schools at UGA to be accepted into and is highly competitive. A degree in “Magazines” does not mean you go to class and read “GQ” and “SI”. These students learn the economics of how a magazine is run, how it is edited, how the art is done, graphic design, advertising and so on…. It is not what you think and these students deserve more respect than that. Just saying.
GTBob
May 9th, 2012
2:02 pm
very apparent that most African Amercians DO NOT attend GT in the same numbers as other minorities.
African American’s are the third highest demographic group at GT, behind Whites and Asians. There are actually very few middle eastern students at GT in relation to the whole student base. You must have gotten lucky to see tons and tons of them.
Chuck Clausen
May 9th, 2012
2:37 pm
Largely because I was able to coach some great athletes at Ohio State and in the NFL I was able to attend the graduations of some great athletes – saw some immensely proud parents celebrate the graduation of the first familly member ever to graduate from college.
observer
May 9th, 2012
2:39 pm
Now you know why this country is in a downard spiral. I’m a GA native and have never been a fan of UGA, but damn, these are 68 kids who have met all the requirements to receive their degree. I know all of their parents and family members are proud. Does every damn thing has to be about who is better or worse ??
flagboy?
May 9th, 2012
2:44 pm
To those college grads, congratulations.
to anyone coming on here to disparage the accomplishments of young men and women. . . sad. I’m sure you make your momma proud.
Chuck Clausen
May 9th, 2012
2:47 pm
Coached some great college athletes who in all likelihood would have not attended college if it had not been for their athletic skills, but with the help of some great tutoring programs and guidance from their coaches they are now successful business and professionals
Coachurly
May 9th, 2012
2:54 pm
Can you trolls stifle the hate for one day?! Damn! Congratulations to the graduates of all colleges. This is a pivotal moment in their young lives and should be celebrated.
Btw, I don’t care if Hamilton took 11 years to graduate! He single-handlely kept the Jackets competitive against FSU (when FSU was a power)and he’s by far the best GT quaterback I’ve ever seen.
Terri Kash
May 9th, 2012
2:56 pm
Way to go Aaron LaGarde!!You did it. So proud of you. Congrats!!!!