2,100 BGSU students to graduate this weekend

The University will award degrees to more than 2,100 students during commencement exercises on Friday and Saturday (May 6 and 7). President Sidney A. Ribeau will preside at the ceremonies, in Anderson Arena.

The spring graduating class represents 71 Ohio counties, 42 states and 19 nations.

Ceremonies for the Graduate College will be held at 7 p.m. Friday. Dr. Adena Williams Loston, chief education officer at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., will speak. The graduating class of 341 includes 26 doctoral candidates, 313 master’s degree candidates and two candidates for specialist degrees.

The College of Arts and Sciences will hold graduation at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, when the speaker will be Cynthia Bogner, associate director of defense-wide programs in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense.

Students graduating at 1 p.m. Saturday in the colleges of Musical Arts and Education and Human Development will hear an address by Aaron Dworkin, president of the Sphinx Organization, which is dedicated to involving youth and minorities in classical music.

Three graduating seniors will speak at the 4:30 p.m. commencement for the colleges of Business Administration, Health and Human Services, and Technology. They are Daniel Burke of Defiance, Kari Elste of Wheaton, Ill., and Sean Yates of Cleveland Heights.

On the undergraduate level, 466 bachelor’s degree candidates will graduate with honors. Eighty-two students are expected to graduate summa cum laude, a recognition given to those who maintain a grade point average between 3.9-4.0 on a 4.0 scale. Magna cum laude honors will be given to 127 students for maintaining averages between 3.76-3.9, and 257 students will receive cum laude recognition for maintaining grade point averages between 3.5-3.75.

Eight students graduating from BGSU Firelands will receive associate degrees with distinction, and one will receive high distinction honors in recognition of scholastic achievement.