When 29-year-old Frances Whiteley of Boulder receives her bachelors degree at the University of Colorados winter commencement Dec. 20, shell be continuing a tradition in her family that dates back to the earliest years of the university.
Frances great-uncle Richard Henry Whiteley, Jr., was a member of CUs first graduating class, the Class of 1882, which had six graduates.
Four years later, in 1886, her great-aunt Helen Florence Ella Tyler, became the first woman to graduate from CU.
Frances other great-aunts, Margaret Hortense Whiteley and Zena Agar Whiteley, also received bachelors degrees from CU, in 1891 and 1892 respectively.
Frances will wear Margarets Phi Beta Kappa key along with her own during commencement exercises at the Coors Events/Conference Center on Saturday, Dec. 20. The ceremony starts at 9:30 a.m.
Frances will receive her bachelor of arts degree with distinction, with a double major in humanities and film. She is one of about 1,937 CU-Boulder students receiving degrees at the ceremony.
For more information, call Frances Whiteley at (303) 447-3281, Kay Oltmans at the CU Heritage Center, 492-6329, or Carol Rowe at the Office of Public Relations, 492-3113.