Six years ago, Ava Platt never expected to be walking across the stage at the Thomas & Mack Center to receive a UNLV degree. In fact, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be her normal self.
The 33-year-old Boston native was involved in a motorcycle crash in 2016 that left her with a traumatic brain injury and amnesia that wiped the last two weeks of her memory, she said. Platt has since recovered, and in doing so discovered a passion for neuroscience — the study of the nervous system — along the way.
“I never imagined gaining my cognition back, let alone going back to school,” Platt said. “The silver lining of my accident was that this was my first introduction to neuroscience. So, this is overcoming a lot of adversity for me and really just persevering. I couldn’t be more grateful to be at a university that’s been so supportive to me throughout my entire undergrad career.”
Platt was one of several outstanding graduates honored at Saturday’s commencement and was also among the estimated 3,384 newly-anointed Rebel alumni to walk across the stage at the Thomas & Mack Center this weekend, the first time the ceremony has been held at the venue for a spring graduation since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Wow, I’ve been in office since August of 2020 and I’ve never seen Thomas & Mack this full,” UNLV President Keith Whitfield said. “(But) through hard work, perseverance and tenacity, you earned your degree, and during that process, you faced challenges that were uncertain and unsettling outside of the classroom.
“Earning a college degree is no small feat, and your journey has required you to rethink, innovate and persist in ways we never imagined. … You didn’t just get to the finish line, you blew past it. It’s important to celebrate that, and that’s what we’re doing here this morning.”
UNLV President Keith Whitfield looks out toward the audience during UNLV graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2022 at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday, May 14, 2022.
Approximately 86% of the 2022 class are Nevada residents, with other students coming from some 40 states and 56 countries, university officials said. Among them, 62% of grads come from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds.
“I owe it all to UNLV,” said Olivia Cheche, another outstanding graduate who finished with a 4.0 grade point average majoring in political science and a minoring in Brooking Public Policy. Cheche’s honors thesis explored how the Black Lives Matter movement affected individual political involvement and she recently accepted a job researching federal higher education policy for New America, a public policy think tank based in Washington D.C.
“UNLV made me so passionate about making higher education more accessible and equitable, and I’m hoping to continue that work in the years to come,” she said.
This year’s class joins an alumni base of more than 160,000, the university said. Graduates range in age from 19 to 77, and the average age is 27.
One of those graduates included honorary doctorate recipient and renowned actress Ann-Margret, a UNLV Fine Arts Hall of Famer made famous from her role as Rusty Martin in the 1964 film “Viva Las Vegas” she co-starred in with rock-n-roll king Elvis Presley.
And despite her dozens of roles throughout the years, the Emmy and Golden Globe award winner — now 81 — said the honorary designation marks one the highest achievements in her career.
“I am so humbled to receive this honorary doctorate that you have bestowed upon me today,” Margret said. “I have loved Las Vegas ever since I first performed here at a lounge at a place called the Dunes, which is no longer here and was totally imploded.
“The memories are numerous and wonderful, and this is a very special place in my heart.”
Platt, who also graduated with 4.0 GPA, said she will pursue a doctorate degree in neuroscience through a partnership program with Brown University and the National Institutes of Health where she will focus on computational neuroscience and investigate neural circuitry, memory, behavior and motor learning, she said.
“I feel like I’m living out my childhood and adulthood by learning about the brain and generating new knowledge about the brain,” she said. I could spend the rest of my life doing this.”