Congratulations to the Class of 2021

The University of Louisville School of Dentistry (USLD) held its convocation ceremony Saturday, May 8 at the Palace Theatre. Although in-person attendance was limited due to COVID-19, viewers were able to watch the ceremony live on YouTube.

This year's graduating class included 119 DMD candidates and 30 Dental Hygiene candidates. Dean T. Gerard Bradley, BDS, MS, Dr.Med.Dent., praised the class of 2021 for their resilience. "Overcoming adverse effects. Functioning well in times of stress. These are the qualities that this group of students have shown in the past year. When the ask and effort is greater, so too is the satisfaction of rising to the occasion and getting to the finish line is the sweeter."

Dr. Bradley also acknowledged the ULSD faculty for helping this year's graduates get to the finish line. "We wouldn't all be here today if it wasn't for our faculty," he said. "When COVID hit and we had to pivot from in-person instruction to online, this was not something that was easy for a clinical training in a clinical program. But our faculty responded and pivoted along with our students."

DMD class president Blake Reed echoed the dean's praise for faculty and staff in his commencement address. "Getting us to this moment after the last 15 months we've had is an incredible feat," he said. "We as a class are extremely grateful for all the hard work getting us finished on time."

Dental hygiene class president Hannah Tak also spoke about the resilience of this year's graduates. "When the world seemed to come to a stop, the class of 2021 kept going," she said.