Graduates to be addressed by faculty, an alumna and students

Joseph Jacoby, sociology, will speak during the Graduate College ceremony at 7 p.m. May 7 in Anderson Arena.

Three undergraduate ceremonies are scheduled in the arena May 8, beginning at 9:30 a.m. with commencement for the College of Arts and Sciences. Addressing the graduates will be Thomas Klein, English and director of the Chapman Community at Kohl Hall.

At 4:30 p.m., Magdalena Fribley will speak at a combined ceremony for the colleges of musical arts and education and human development. Fribley is a 1985 BGSU alumna and current manager of fitness, aquatics and spa facilities at New Albany (Ohio) Country Club.

During a 1 p.m. ceremony, bachelor's degree candidates Tracy LaHote of Bowling Green, Tiffany Ryan of Defiance and Jacqueline Gallo of Twinsburg will address fellow graduates in the colleges of business administration, health and human services, and technology.

At BGSU Firelands, commencement exercises will be held for the first time in the Cedar Point Center, which opened last fall. Addressing the graduates at the 7:30 p.m. ceremony May 7 will be BGSU alumnus George Mylander, a philanthropist and former Sandusky mayor and educator.

More than 2,100 students on the Bowling Green and BGSU Firelands campuses are candidates for degrees.

Jacoby, the Graduate College speaker, has been a faculty member since 1981. His research focuses on mentally ill criminal offenders, public opinion about punishment and the growth of the prison population. In 1994, the Ohio Department of Mental Health funded his study of reintegration of mentally ill prisoners into the community. Jacoby holds a master's degree in criminology and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Klein, who has been at BGSU since 1971, created the Chapman Community, a living-learning community that enhances student success by supporting collaboration and curricular integration. He has also directed the Humanities Cluster College and the Writing Across the Curriculum program; initiated and directed the Great Ideas program, and created Holocaust/genocide literature courses. The author of three books, Klein earned master's and doctoral degrees in English education from Harvard and Northwestern universities, respectively.

After receiving her bachelor's degree in sport management from BGSU, Fribley was athletic director at a downtown Columbus athletic facility, the Capital Club, for seven years. In 1992, she was named bath and tennis director at the New Albany Country Club and supervised its grand opening. Holder of a master's degree in business administration from Franklin University, Fribley remains involved with BGSU, where she has endowed two scholarships and is a member of the Presidents Club and the College of Education and Human Development Dean's Council.

LaHote, the College of Business Administration speaker, is a candidate for a bachelor's degree in business administration, specializing in general business. The daughter of David and Ruth LaHote of Bowling Green (843 Pine Valley Drive), she has been president of the Panhellenic Council, active in Dance Marathon and a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and four honor societies. A former intern for David's House of Compassion and the American Red Cross, she plans to work for a nonprofit organization in either financial development or public relations.

Ryan, the daughter of Mark and Wendy Ryan of Defiance (2214 Riviera Road), is a bachelor's degree candidate in communication disorders and the College of Health and Human Services speaker. A campus tour guide and active in the BGSU Honors Program, she has also been involved in three honoraries, the University's Literacy Serve and Learn program, Leaders in Residence and the Communication Disorders Undergraduate Research Group. Her plans include graduate coursework in communication disorders/speech-language pathology at BGSU.

The speaker for the College of Technology, Gallo is a candidate for a bachelor's degree in technology, with a major in visual communication technology. Having completed three internships, she is researching graphic design companies in the Akron area. Among her campus affiliations were Dance Marathon, Leaders in Residence, Epsilon Pi Tau and Phi Eta Sigma honor societies, Habitat for Humanity and Silent Solidarity, a program to increase awareness of social discrimination and prejudice. She is the daughter of Michael and Deborah Gallo of Twinsburg (1305 Patton Court).

(Posted April 27, 2004 )