UW-Parkside Fall 2023 Commencement Set for Dec. 16

Published: November 29, 2023

Fall 2023 CommencementKenosha, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside will hold its Fall 2023 Commencement on Saturday, Dec. 16 in the De Simone Arena in the Sports and Activity Center. Doors open at 9 a.m. and the ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. The ceremony will honor over 400 students and will be followed by a reception in the Petretti Fieldhouse. Refreshments and photo opportunities will be available. 

This semester’s commencement speaker will be Jay O. Rothman, President of the Universities of Wisconsin. Rothman served as the Chairman and CEO of the law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP from 2011 - 2022, has been a member of the firm’s Management Committee since February 2002, and has been a partner of the firm since February 1994. He joined Foley in October 1986, after receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marquette University and a law degree from Harvard Law School.  

Rothman serves as a director of Quad/Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: QUAD) and Mayville Engineering Company, Inc. (NYSE: MEC). He also is actively involved in the community, including as a director of Junior Achievement of Wisconsin and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.  Rothman was raised on a small operating farm outside of Wausau where his family raised beef cattle and horses. He has two adult children. His daughter is a graduate of UW-Madison.  

UW-Parkside will recognize five Outstanding Graduates and one Chancellor’s Award Recipient during the ceremony. The honorees are: 

  • Phoebe Hillery | Sport Management and Communication (Plainfield, IL) (Chancellor’s Award) 
  • Audrey Capodarco | Elementary Education and Special Education (Racine, WI) 
  • Caleb Neill | Applied Health Sciences (Kenosha, WI) 
  • Johnathon Nowacki | Sport Management (Athens, WI) 
  • Megan Salinas | Master of Business Administration (Racine, WI) 
  • Olivia Weippert | Art (Racine, WI) 

Chancellor’s Award Recipient Phoebe Hillery will address her fellow graduates. Hillery is graduating with dual majors in Sport Management and Communication, two minors, (Public Relations, and Digital Media & Production), and a Sales certificate. She was a member of UW-Parkside’s women’s soccer team for three years. She also acted as the UW-Parkside women’s soccer director of operations.   

Hillery has interned for over 2,000 hours with multiple organizations. She was the volunteer coordinator for the Wisconsin Marathon and also helped other sport management students obtain Community Based Learning opportunities. Phoebe also helps raise and train puppies to become companion or emotional support dogs with the VIP Service Dog Foundation. She has also assisted with the RootPike WIN garbage clean-up of the Pike River and coaches youth soccer. 

For more details about UW-Parkside’s Fall 2023 commencement, click here.


The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is committed to high-quality educational programs, creative and scholarly activities, and services responsive to its diverse student population, and its local, national, and global communities. We are a dynamic learning community grounded in academic excellence and focused on student success, diversity, inclusion, and community engagement. The campus serves as a premier comprehensive public institution and a destination of choice, serving as a focal point of local, regional, and global progress.  


Media contact: 

Derek Fye 
Communications Manager 
University of Wisconsin-Parkside 
Fye@uwp.edu | (262) 771-5419 

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