The Ring Ceremony is a singularly UT Dallas tradition. Although graduates around the country commemorate their college experience with class rings, only at UT Dallas do recipients mark the occasion with fake moon dirt and a ceremonial dip in the campus’ iconic reflecting pools.

Ring recipient Miriam Ndimbalan BA’20 (center)  with her friend, Timah (left), and husband, Biram, at the fall 2021 UT Dallas Ring Ceremony.

Postponed every semester since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, UT Dallas students and graduates were finally able to commemorate their success at the UT Dallas Ring Ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 7. Gathered with family, friends and supporters in the Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center, it was a night of celebration long overdue for the Comet community.

Dr. Rafael Martín, vice president and chief of staff, welcomed ring recipients into an exclusive cohort of the UT Dallas alumni body, acknowledging the challenges overcome by the community over the last two years and the solidarity across campus that helped each ring recipient advance their personal ambitions during this time.

“Our celebration today honors all you’ve accomplished despite these obstacles,” Martín said. “I also want to celebrate you as Comets United. By standing together in the face of adversity, you helped each other achieve your goals. Whenever you wear your rings, remember what you were able to accomplish as a community.”

Alphonse Muse BA’20, Ana Lemons MA’22 and Rafael Martín PhD’20 show off their UT Dallas rings.

This fall’s ceremony invited graduates from the 2020 and spring 2021 classes back to campus to participate in the University tradition. Representing UT Dallas’ COVID graduates was Alphonse Muse BA’20, a former Student Ambassador and ATEC graduate whose life-changing experiences as a student inspired him to return to speak to this year’s ring recipients.

“I graduated in spring 2020 and received my degree and my ring before this ceremony,” Muse said. “So you might ask, ‘Why did he come back for this?’ I must say: I love this place. It was my home away from home. I am so honored to be a ring holder for UT Dallas. Let your ring be a gateway to remind you of your success here, too.”

Despite the unique circumstances surrounding this year’s ceremony, participants received their rings with the eccentric pomp and circumstance that has always surrounded the event. Prior to distribution, each UT Dallas ring was nestled overnight in a case with lunar regolith simulant — or fake moon dirt — created for the occasion by the late Dr. James Carter, a famed geoscientist and beloved UT Dallas professor for over 55 years.

Ring recipients ended the ceremony with the traditional ring dunk in the reflecting pools on the Margaret McDermott Mall.

Carter was a longtime supporter of the Ring Ceremony. One of his parting gifts to UT Dallas was the creation of the Dr. James Carter Memorial Ring Fund, which awarded a ring free of charge to a deserving student this year and will do the same for years to come.

After receiving their rings, participants exited to the banks of the reflecting pools on the Margaret McDermott Mall for the traditional ring dunk. With a cry of “Whoosh!”, ring wearers dunked their hands into the pool, symbolically imbuing their rings with memories of the friends, experiences and accomplishments they made at UT Dallas.