Regional colleges to graduate 13,000

4/28/2008

University of Toledo and Lourdes College graduates will receive their diplomas at new venues this spring when dozens of area colleges and universities present about 13,000 students with degrees ranging from associate's to medical and law.

UT graduates will have a rain-or-shine event in the Glass Bowl, rather than Savage Hall, which is under construction.

Lourdes is moving to the SeaGate Convention Centre, after more than a dozen years at the Stranahan Theater, to accommodate large crowds.

UT's ceremony at the Glass Bowl will be at 1 p.m. Saturday with Nancy Cantor, chancellor and president of Syracuse University, addressing the class of about 2,470 students.

Because of the large event, which will include fall 2007 graduates - inclement winter weather led to their ceremony's cancellation - the college is holding individual events where the students' names will be read.

"We wanted to make sure our students had a more personalized ceremony and that would be easiest done in a college venue," UT Provost Rosemary Haggett said.

Lourdes President Bob Helmer said with a record 350 graduates this year the college needed a larger space to accommodate guests, which average about 10 per graduate.

"We're proud of our graduates, but we know they didn't get here alone," he said. "They always talk about importance of family and friends, and we don't want to limit them at all.

"We want them to bring every last person they want to share that day with them."

Sylvania Mayor Craig Stough will speak at the ceremony at 1 p.m. May 17.

UT's professional schools will have commencements that are separate from the campuswide event.

The UT College of Pharmacy is holding an individual ceremony for the first time. It will be at 7 p.m. Friday in the Stranahan Theater. David Boyer, a UT pharmacy graduate and president of the Ohio Pharmacists Association, will speak to the 255 candidates for graduation.

The UT College of Law's graduation will be at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Student Union auditorium. U.S. District Judge Joseph J. Farnan, Jr., of the District of Delaware will speak to the 132 law degree recipients.

And the UT College of Medicine's commencement will be at 2 p.m. June 6 in the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle. David Leach, former executive director/chief executive officer of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, will speak to the 134 graduates.

Bowling Green State University holds four commencement ceremonies for its graduates, which will total more than 2,300 this year. All ceremonies will be in Anderson Arena.

The first is at 7 p.m. Friday when Dr. Larry Nulton, a well-known clinical psychologist in Pennsylvania who received a doctorate from BGSU, will speak.

The College of Arts and Sciences graduation will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and James Bailey, retired chief operating officer of U.S. Trust Corp. and retired executive vice president of Citicorp, will speak.

Three graduating seniors will speak at the 1 p.m. Saturday commencement for students in the College of Business Administration, College of Health and Human Services, and College of Technology. The students are Curtis Farnsel of Metamora, Jeanna Klamfoth of Bucyrus, and David Hotler of Columbus.

The final ceremony will be at 4:30 p.m. Saturday when Martin Porter, founder and director of the Toledo School for the Arts, will address graduates from the College of Musical Arts and College of Education and Human Development.

Other spring commencement ceremonies in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan include:

•Bluffton University, at 2 p.m. Sunday, in Salzman Stadium. Brenda D. Phillips, professor at Oklahoma State University's fire and emergency management program and a senior researcher for the Center for the Study of Disasters and Extreme Events, will speak. There are about 250 candidates for graduation.

•Davis College, 7 p.m. May 16, in the Stranahan Theater. An actor portraying Abraham Lincoln will present the commencement speech, which is a combination of different speeches of the 16th president and information about the graduating class, in celebration of the college's 150th anniversary. There are about 125 candidates for graduation.

•Defiance College, at noon Sunday, on the Colonnade Green in front of the Pilgrim Library. Maria Hinojosa, managing editor and host of Latino USA on National Public Radio and senior correspondent for the PBS newsmagazine NOW, will speak. There are about 220 candidates for graduation.

•Heidelberg College, Tiffin, at 2 p.m. May 11, in the Seiberling Gymnasium. Stand-up comedian and Heidelberg alumnus Brian Regan will speak. There are about 340 candidates for graduation.

•Hillsdale College, at 2 p.m. May 10, on the college's east lawn. Louis Freeh, director of the FBI from 1993 to 2001, will speak. There are about 270 candidates for graduation.

•Mercy College of Northwest Ohio, at 6 p.m. Friday, at Rosary Cathedral. John Abeles, senior vice president of talent management and diversity for Catholic Healthcare Partners, will speak. There are about 170 candidates for graduation.

•Monroe County Community College, at 8 p.m. Friday, in the Gerald Welch Health Education Building. Students Jeffrey Kodysh and Judith Bert will speak. There are about 500 candidates for graduation.

•Northwest State Community College, near Archbold, at 2 p.m. May 17, on the college lawn. Former college president Larry McDougle, who led the college for 11 years, will speak. The approximately 450 candidates for graduation is a record.

•Ohio Northern University, Ada, at 2 p.m. May 18, at the Sports Center. Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton will speak. The law school commencement will be at 2 p.m. May 11 in the Sports Center and former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine will speak. There are about 625 candidates for the undergraduate commencement and 100 candidates for law degrees.

•Owens Community College, at 7 p.m. May 9, in the Student Health and Activities Center on the Perrysburg Township campus. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur will speak. There are a record 773 candidates for graduation, including 120 from the Findlay campus.

•Rhodes State College, Lima, at 7 p.m. June 12, in Lima's Veteran's Memorial Civic and Convention Center. Donna Alvarado, chairman of the Ohio Board of Regents, will speak. There are about 460 candidates for graduation.

•Siena Heights University, Adrian, 10 a.m. Sunday, in the university field house. There are about 400 candidates for graduation.

•Stautzenberger College, at 7:30 p.m., Aug. 1, in the Franciscan Center at Lourdes College.

•Terra Community College, Fremont, at 2 p.m., Friday. Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut will speak. There are about 230 candidates for graduation.

•Tiffin University, at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, in the Gillmor Student Union. Terry Collins, founder and CEO of the Papa Murphy's pizza chain, will speak. There are 336 undergraduate candidates for graduation and 224 graduate students.

•University of Findlay, 2 p.m., Saturday, in the Koehler Fitness and Recreation Complex. Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer will speak. There are about 760 candidates for graduation.

•University of Northwestern Ohio, Lima, 1 p.m., June 8, in Lima's Veteran's Memorial Civic Convention Center. Students Joey Cox and Ryan Snyder will speak. There are about 875 candidates for graduation.

•The University of Toledo's individual college ceremonies are : Nursing, 10 a.m., Friday, Stranahan Theater; Business, 5:30 p.m., Friday, Nitschke Auditorium; Education, 7 p.m., Friday, Student Union Auditorium; University College, 7 p.m., Friday, Student Union Ingman Room; Engineering 5 p.m., Friday for graduate students in the Nitschke Seminar Room and 9:30 a.m. Saturday for undergraduates in Nitschke Auditorium; Health Science and Human Service, 8:30 a.m., Saturday, Stranahan Theater, and Arts and Sciences, 9 a.m., Saturday, Student Union Auditorium.

Contact Meghan Gilbert at:

mgilbert@theblade.com

or 419-724-6134.