BGSU to mark 100th anniversary of first commencement

For the hundredth year in its history, BGSU will hold commencement exercises. The milestone ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. Aug. 8 in the Stroh Center.

The University, which celebrated its centennial in 2010, held its first commencement in 1915, when 35 women received their degrees from what was then known as Bowling Green State Normal College at a ceremony held in the Chidester Theatre in downtown Bowling Green.

As in 1915, women degree candidates this summer outnumber men 542 to 415.

Of those 957 diplomas to be awarded Aug. 8, 519 are bachelor’s degrees, 285 are master’s degrees, 34 are doctorates and 56 are associate degrees. Another 74 candidates will receive graduate certificates in specific programs.

The August graduates represent 21 countries and range in age from 17 to 69. Seventy-seven candidates will be graduating with honors, including 10 receiving their degree with distinction, 14 with highest distinction, 39 cum laude, nine magna cum laude, and 15 summa cum laude. Five candidates have earned the President’s Award, which recognizes graduates with a perfect grade point average.

Addressing the graduates will be BGSU alumnus Victor J. Boschini Jr., chancellor of Texas Christian University. Boschini earned a master’s degree from BGSU in 1979, a bachelor’s degree from Mount Union College, and a doctorate in higher education administration from Indiana University. He has also received honorary doctorates from Lincoln University and The University of Mount Union. In 2005 he was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indiana University College of Education. 

Boschini came to TCU after serving as president of Illinois State University, where he also had served as vice president for student affairs and associate professor in the Department of Educational Administration and Foundations. Prior to that he held administrative and teaching positions at Butler and Indiana universities.

He is a member of the board of directors of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, which works with Fulbright Scholars, and a member of the President’s Council of The Washington Center, the largest independent, nonprofit academic internship program in the United States. He recently completed a two-year term as president of the board of directors of Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas. Previously he served a term as chair of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, headquartered in Washington, D.C. His primary area of advocacy/interest in both groups has been maintaining accessibility for all students to higher education – particularly through federal and state-supported financial aid programs.