Green Bay Reporter

Members of the inaugural cohort of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's Rising Phoenix program will receive their bachelor's degrees on Saturday, May 11, 2024. This group includes the morning ceremony student speaker and the youngest Latinx student to graduate from UW-Green Bay.

The Rising Phoenix program is a pioneering collaboration between local high schools and the university. The first graduates of this program have now completed their Bachelor’s degree at UW-Green Bay. Blai Yang and Nadia Neziri are two such students who have overcome obstacles to further their education. After earning their associate degrees before their high school diplomas through the Rising Phoenix program, both enrolled as juniors at UW-Green Bay. By spring 2024, Yang was selected by faculty as a featured student speaker, while Neziri became the youngest Latinx (at only 19 years old) to graduate with her Bachelor’s degree from UW-Green Bay.

The Rising Phoenix program offers students a combination of dual enrollment, ongoing student success coaching, and an opportunity to earn a high school diploma and an associate of Arts and Sciences degree while still in high school. The class of 2024 has been the largest group yet, with 144 students completing the Rising Phoenix program and being dual-enrolled in high school and UW-Green Bay during their junior and senior years.

About UW-Green Bay: The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is an institution that encourages resilience and problem-solving among its students. Serving 10,300 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral students as well as 67,500 continuing education learners annually, it offers over 200 academic degrees, programs, and certificates across four campus locations in Northeast Wisconsin. Since opening its doors in 1965, it has been championing bold thinking among its students – making it Wisconsin’s fastest-growing university.