College commencements to mark weekend

5/4/2012

College graduation season begins this weekend with ceremonies at Bowling Green State University, the University of Toledo, and Owens Community College, among others.

Some 2,026 degrees are to be awarded at three graduation ceremonies at BGSU's new Stroh Center today and Saturday. The graduate college and the colleges of health and human services, musical arts, and technology will have their commencement at 7 p.m. today. On Saturday, the college of arts and sciences will have its ceremony at 9:30 a.m., and the colleges of business administration and education and human development will get their degrees at 3 p.m. Saturday.

BGSU Firelands Campus near Sandusky will have graduation at 7:30 p.m. today in the Cedar Point Center. BGSU Trustee Bob Sebo, retired senior vice president of Paychex Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., will give the address.

Owens Community College plans to award 803 degrees at its spring commencement at 7 p.m. today in the Student Health and Activities Center on the Perrysburg Township campus. That includes 165 graduates from its Findlay campus. Andrea Price, president and chief executive officer of Mercy, Northern Region, will be the keynote speaker.

Mercy College of Ohio will hold commencement ceremonies today. The ceremony will be at 6 p.m. at Rosary Cathedral, 2535 Collingwood Blvd. in Toledo. Larry McDougle, former member of the Mercy College Board of Trustees and retired president of Owens Community College, will deliver the commencement address to 362 graduates, the highest number of graduates in the college's history.

At the University of Toledo on Saturday, Maurice Manning, president of the Irish Human Rights Commission, will address graduates of the colleges of languages, literature, and social sciences; natural sciences and mathematics; visual and performing arts; engineering; adult and lifelong learning, and nursing at 9:30 a.m.

At 2 p.m., Lee Fisher, president and chief executive officer of CEOs for Cities, will address graduates of the college of business and innovation, and education, health science, and human service. UT expects to award 2,790 degrees.

The college of law and the college of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences will hold their ceremonies Sunday, while the college of medicine and life sciences will holds its commencement June 1 at Stranahan Theater.

Lourdes University will hold its first commencement ceremony as a university at 1 p.m. May 19 at SeaGate Convention Centre. Dr. Elizabeth Spencer Ruppert, professor emeritus for the University of Toledo's College of Medicine, will address the graduates. Both Dr. Ruppert and Robert Maxwell are to receive honorary doctoral degrees.

Karel Oxley, superintendent of Lima City Schools, will speak to graduates of Bluffton University at 2 p.m. Sunday in Salzman Stadium.

Defiance College will hold its commencement at noon Sunday on the Colonnade Green in front of the Pilgrim Library. Author, speaker, and entrepreneur Rory Vaden is the guest speaker.

At the University of Findlay, 675 degrees are to be awarded during two ceremonies Saturday at the Koehler Complex. Gregory Denecker, superintendent of Bluffton Exempted Village Schools, will speak at the graduate ceremony at 9 a.m., while Julius Cole, director of the Andrew Young Center for International Affairs and its Office for Global Education at Morehouse College, will address undergraduates at 2 p.m.

Northwest State Community Collegenear Archbold will hold its commencement at 2 p.m. Saturday outside south of the College Atrium. Kim Bordenkircher, chief executive officer of Henry County Hospital, will provide the keynote address.

Ohio Northern University in Ada will hold its undergraduate commencement at 2 p.m. May 13 in the ONU Sports Center. ONU alumnus Clayton Mathile, former owner of Iams Food Co., will address grads.

In Fremont, Terra State Community College will hold its commencement at 7 p.m. today in the Student Activities Center. Lt. Col. Thomas Hoffert of Fremont, a U.S. Army retiree, will speak at the ceremony, which will highlight the college's relationship with its students who are armed forces veterans.

Tiffin University will hold its commencement at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Heminger Rec Center.