A Degree of Compassion

This year’s Spring Commencement, held on Sunday, May 21, 2017 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, saw more than three hundred undergraduate and graduate candidates earn their degrees. While it’s always a day of celebration for the graduates, their families and friends, this year’s ceremony was marked by a very special moment.

John Primm accepted a posthumous degree, a Bachelor of Science in Theatre Arts, for his son Brendan. Brendan Primm ’17 died July 24, 2013, when he was struck by a car while riding his bike in Madison. He was 22 years old.

Brendan is the son of John Primm and Pat Hallinan, a member of the faculty in the School of Business. 

He's pictured here onstage in the Diane Ballweg Theatre in the 2012 production of The COR Stories.