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Photo by Eric Engman

The University of Alaska Fairbanks commencement ceremony takes place on Mother’s Day, but a pair of father and daughter graduates are taking center stage.

John and Francis Dashiell and Greg and Krynn Finstad are four of the 1,125 students who will graduate from UAF this year.

John has earned an associate’s degree in applied business, while his daughter will be awarded a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Greg will be receiving his doctorate in range ecology, and Krynn has earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and justice.

Both families said they realized they would graduating at the same time at the beginning of the spring semester.

“After he met an adviser, it was like, ‘Oh wait, if we time this right ...” Francis said.

After collecting their degrees, John, a mechanic, and Greg, director of the Reindeer Research Program at UAF, will continue with their jobs. Their daughters, meanwhile, will be embarking on new periods in their lives. Francis will come back to UAF to pursue her master’s degree in business, while Krynn will take a year off before returning to the classroom to start her master’s degree.

“I’m not ready to leave Fairbanks; it’s a great place to be,” Krynn said.

During their time as undergraduates, both Francis and Krynn kept busy with work beyond academics.

“It wasn’t just classes, there was work and extra-curricular activities,” Francis said.

Krynn was a member of the UAF cross-country running and skiing teams, and Francis served as president of the Associated Students of Business, an UAF ambassador and an orientation leader. She also worked part-time as a publication assistant on campus, a high school volleyball referee and a snowboarding instructor.

Their fathers also had to balance academics with other obligations. John said it was particularly hard to balance his job with classes when he had unsympathetic bosses. Greg found it difficult to balance his commitment to his job, family and academic work as well.

“I wouldn’t recommend it, but in the end it was worth it,” Greg said.

Greg said he originally wasn’t planning to participate in Sunday’s ceremony but changed his mind at the urging of his daughter. Krynn said she wanted them to walk because they have family in town and because of their rare father-daughter graduation.

“We kind of talked each other into it,” Krynn said.

Although they were all working on different degrees, the fathers and their respective daughters said they would sometimes talk academics at home.

“Once, we even discussed a paper I had due in a day and she said, ‘You would have given me hell if I waited that long,’” John said.

Parents are traditionally proud of their graduating children, but for John, Francis, Greg and Krynn, the feeling is mutual.

“I’m proud. It’s good for him, and it’s pretty remarkable we’re doing it together,” Francis said.