Nearly 3,000 graduate in UNLV ceremonies

She was just 17 when she entered San Diego State University as a freshman in 1964.

She drifted for three semesters before she dropped out.

She got married, had kids, divorced, worked, got married again, and the next thing she knew, she was approaching 60 and taking care of her dying mother.

Colleen Bevilacqua is 65 now. And, though it took her 48 years, she is finally a college graduate.

"You can do whatever you want to do. You just can't be afraid," said Bevilacqua, one of nearly 3,000 students to graduate from UNLV on Saturday.

"You're never too old to be who you might have been."

Across Southern Nevada this month, more than 5,000 students are getting diplomas and certificates from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the College of Southern Nevada and Nevada State College.

NSC, which held its ceremonies Friday night, awarded more than 300 degrees, its largest class ever. The college is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

CSN holds ceremonies May 21, where the community college will award 2,500 degrees and certificates to 2,300 students.

UNLV said its graduates ranged in age from 19 to 72. They come from 42 states and 61 foreign countries, though 80 percent are from Nevada.

The average bachelor's recipient is 26 years old, and the average age overall for graduates at UNLV is 28.

The overall graduating class was about 10 percent bigger than last year's, the university said, and included the first graduates from the entertainment engineering and design bachelor's program and nursing practice and public health doctoral programs.

Entertainment engineering grad Emily Black wowed the crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center when she flew across the stage using a harness and cables at the end of the ceremony.

University President Neal Smatresk told the graduates that he was proud of their perseverance during budget cuts.

"You too have experienced financial hardships, but it's been your passion and your steadfast desire to complete your education that inspires all," he said.

'I HAD NO PLAN'

Bevilacqua earned a bachelor's degree in hospitality management. It seemed to take forever.

She said she originally went to college way back when she was 17 to please her mother. She knew in her heart that it wasn't for her, so she dropped out.

"I had no plan," she said.

She lived her life, raised her children, and worked as a controller in a restaurant in San Diego, where she is from. She learned much about the restaurant business during that time, she said.

Eventually, she remarried, moved to New York, moved back home, and then ended up in Las Vegas 20 years ago.

She started a bookkeeping business, which she still operates.

When her mother got ill, Bevilacqua took care of her for five years. When her mom died, at age 95 in 2004, Bevilacqua wasn't sure what to do with herself.

"I could read every novel that ever was," she thought, so that's what she set out to do.

But that got boring. "I needed something more stimulating," she said.

She thought she could take a course or two at the university, something related to her time in the restaurant industry. UNLV has one of the best hospitality programs in the nation, so it seemed like a good idea.

FIRST DAY WAS DAUNTING

She worried a bit that the students would all be younger than her.

"I never realized that I'd be older than all my professors too," she said.

One professor, Rhonda Montgomery, was so inspiring, Bevilacqua said, that she decided to stick around, see if she could get a degree.

The first day was daunting: "I always felt like the other students would be looking at me thinking, 'What is she doing here?' "

That turned out to be all wrong. The students, she said, always appreciated having someone in their classes who brought a different perspective.

She formed such a bond with the young students that graduation, something that took her 48 years to accomplish, is bittersweet.

"They've all become my cheerleaders. That's the hard part about leaving," said Bevilacqua, who has applied for a scholarship to continue on to graduate school.

When picking up her cap and gown for graduation last week, she unexpectedly got choked up.

"The emotion came over me," she said. "Oh my gosh, I'm really going to be graduating."

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.