Pinnacle Bank Arena, 400 Pinnacle Arena Drive, was the site for the commencement ceremony for about 550 graduate and professional degree recipients on May 9.
Rick Bevins, Cather Professor and chair of the UNL Department of Psychology, gave the address at the graduate degree ceremony. Bevins, who earned his doctorate in neuroscience and behavior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has been at UNL since 1996. He has an extensive track record investigating the underlying behavioral and neural causes of drug addiction, publishing over a 120 papers in the area, along with two edited books.
His address, titled “Crash, Smash, Bash!,” invoked the Shel Silverstein poem “The Little Blue Engine” to encourage graduates, in times of difficulty, to persevere.
On May 10, approximately 2,300 baccalaureate degree recipients will receive their degrees at the arena. Watch a live stream of the ceremony here, or watch on your mobile device here.
There is open seating in Pinnacle Bank Arena and the public may sit in any non-reserved seats other than on the main floor, which is set for graduates, faculty and dignitaries. Handicap seating is available on the concourse level at sections 106, 107, 112, 114, 117 and 118. Concession stands are not open, but bottled water is available for sale. Open captioning for people with hearing impairment is being provided through the ribbon screens at the corners of the arena concourse level. For Pinnacle Bank Arena seating charts, go to http://www.pinnaclebankarena.com/tickets/seating.html.
Guest services and first aid is on Level 3 at Gate 112.
Free parking is available in the Festival Space parking lot, across a pedestrian bridge north of the arena. Transportation to the arena by golf cart is available for mobility-restricted guests. Festival Space is accessible off Sun Valley Boulevard between West O Street and North 10th Street. UNL lots are available only to those with proper permits on May 9.
Paid parking, including handicap parking, is available in Haymarket area garages operated by the city of Lincoln and on the street. Parking in the Red 1 Garage, 555 R St., can be reserved and paid in advance through the City of Lincoln website, http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/asp/eventprk/default.asp.
A drop-off area for mobility-restricted guests is available on the south side of the post office building, 700 R St., directly east of Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Parking maps are at http://www.pinnaclebankarena.com/visit.
The ceremony is also carried live on Lincoln TimeWarner Cable Education Access Channel 80 (with cable box) or Channel 71.16 (TWC subscribers without cable box).
