Board of Regents president to speak at UW-River Falls commencement

 

May 4 graduation to include three ceremonies, new site

River Falls, Wis. – The president of the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents will be the keynote speaker at this year’s University of Wisconsin-River Falls spring commencement on Saturday, May 4, an opportunity she sought after visiting the campus in October 2023.

Karen Walsh, Regents president since 2022 and a BOR member since her appointment in 2019, will address attendees of the three graduation ceremonies at Page Arena in the Falcon Center.
  
“When we were there in October, I met so many amazing students,” Walsh said. “They had such passion about their fields of study. I was so impressed by them and the work they are doing and their passion for it that I decided that I would like to speak at commencement.”

A total of 704 students are scheduled to graduate. Of those, 618 will receive their bachelor’s degree, 84 their master’s degree and two their associate degree.

This year’s spring commencement ceremony will involve changes from recent years. The location has changed to Page Arena after having occurred in Knowles Field House in recent years. Graduation this year also will include three ceremonies, one for each of the university’s three colleges. The ceremony for the College of Education, Business and Allied Health (CEBAH), along with Graduate Studies, is at 8:30 a.m.; the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) at noon; and the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at 3:30 p.m.

Walsh, a native of Columbus, graduated from UW-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She was a reporter for news outlets, including Wisconsin Public Radio, before working for 23 years at UW-Madison in a variety of public relations positions.
  
She retired from UW-Madison in 2005 as assistant dean for external relations in the College of Engineering. In that job, she oversaw alumni and donor communications, news media relations, and the college’s undergraduate invention and prototyping competitions. She has received publications awards with the National Association of Government Communicators, UW-Madison’s Bollinger Academic Staff Achievement Award, and Philanthropist of the Year from the Dane County Humane Society. 

Walsh is director of the BerbeeWalsh Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to human and animal health and welfare. Since 2006, the foundation has awarded more than $8 million in grants in the state of Wisconsin, including a gift to the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics that created the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine.

Having the BOR president as commencement keynote speaker is an honor, UW-River Falls Chancellor Maria Gallo said. Walsh’s relatability to students is a sign of her sincere commitment to ensuring they have opportunities that prepare them for future success, she said.

“President Walsh sincerely cares for the students at our university and those at other Universities of Wisconsin schools,” Gallo said. “She serves as a shining example of someone who has used the education she received to make a significant, positive difference for many.”

Walsh hoped to speak at the Dec. 16 commencement at UW-River Falls, but her schedule did not allow her to do so.

“This is a time to recognize these students and the great programs that UW-River Falls does so well and is known around the country for,” Walsh said. “Commencement is a time to celebrate all that these students have done to get to this day, and also a time to celebrate all that they have ahead of them.”
Commencement ceremonies will also be available via livestream. For more information, go to the commencement website, https://www.uwrf.edu/Commencement/.