Over 2,000 more students will start 2020 as Seahawk Alumni

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) —  1,696 undergraduates, 582 graduate and 11 doctoral students graduated the University of North Carolina Wilmington Saturday.

Chancellor Jose Sartarelli says this class made history!

The Fall 2019 graduates are the first group of students to graduate from UNCW since the school received the “Doctoral Universities: High Research Activity” distinction. Sartarelli says less than 7% of the world’s population has earned a college degree, which makes Saturday’s event an honorable celebration.

Ches Woodall was one of the many graduates. He received a Bachelors of Science in Business Management and Marketing Strategy.

“I told my parents at dinner last night that the professors and the people that I’ve met on this campus have just made it what it was and I think that’s really important,” Woodall said.

Unlike some graduates, Woodall doesn’t have to leave the university jobless.

“I was looking on the UNCW work site and it was the best job on the site,” Woodall said. “It paid the most and I said ‘I think I’m qualified for this’ and [my best friend] just told me to apply. It couldn’t hurt and so I did and I ended up getting that job.”

Woodall says, thanks to the Cameron School of Business and his mentor Ben Handel, he will be working a the Wilmington Branch NC Department of Revenue.

“If you put your head down and keep grinding, you can get there,” Woodall said. “It has not been a fun, easy ride the whole time, but we’re here.”