Three Cheers at Commencement

When they were kids, Hunter, Tanner and Walker Owen’s mother dressed the triplets in matching outfits in their signature colors: green, yellow and red.

Next week, they’ll again dress the same, this time all in black, as they march across the commencement stage as new graduates of the University of Maryland.

The three young men, all fraternal, may not look enough alike to prompt misdirected hellos at the dining hall, but their paths through the university have been remarkably similar. The trio are all completing their bachelor’s degrees from the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences: Tanner in computer science and mathematics, Walker in computer science with a mathematics minor, and Hunter in mathematics.

Growing up near Frederick, Md., the three boys shared a group of friends and played on school soccer and tennis teams together. When they followed their older brother to the University of Maryland, their parents insisted that the triplets live separately. (The names are no coincidence; Connor ’21 almost makes an -er foursome.)

“My parents really wanted us to take a step from each other and be our own selves,” said Walker. They did, and made their own sets of friends, but still found their way back to one another. “All three of our friend groups would come and hang out together,” said Tanner. Several times a week, they all met up to play basketball, and Hunter and Tanner lived together sophomore through senior years.

Their similar academic pathways are no accident, either. When they were younger, their parents emphasized math and science, and an AP calculus teacher in high school helped steer them toward STEM majors.

“It’s unique for triplets to pursue their degrees together at the University of Maryland, and even rarer that they’re graduating from the same college with an overlapping combination of mathematics and computer science degrees. I am sure there was some friendly competition when they were taking the same courses!” said Robert Infantino, associate dean for undergraduate education in CMNS. “As they earn the triple crown in one CMNS commencement ceremony, we look forward to seeing great things from the Owen brothers.”

After graduating, the brothers will continue their journeys together: The three are moving to a house in Arlington, Va., where they’ll be closer to their jobs. (Tanner will be a solutions engineering analyst at Deloitte, Walker will be a software engineer at a government contractor, and Hunter will be a project manager at Navy Federal Credit Union while taking actuarial exams.) Three other friends from UMD will be joining them in their six-bedroom house.

“I feel like we don’t plan to live together at all, but it somehow always happens,” said Hunter.

- Story by the Office of Marketing and Communications