Wright State celebrates 73rd commencement

President Hopkins noted that 8,655 Wright State students this year donated more than 930,000 hours of community service touching the lives of nearly 60,000 people in the local community.

Quoting Oprah Winfrey, Eleanor Roosevelt and John Wooden, Wright State University President David R. Hopkins encouraged one of the largest classes of students to graduate from the university to continue serving others, meeting new people and changing lives.

“Whatever your calling is in life, don’t give up until you find it,” said Hopkins at Wright State’s 73rd commencement Saturday, June 11, at the Wright State Nutter Center.

President Hopkins noted that 8,655 Wright State students this year donated more than 930,000 hours of community service touching the lives of nearly 60,000 people in our community.

“I encourage you to open your hearts to all kinds of people and let others touch your life. Spend time with people who challenge you, make you think and expand your experiences,” said Hopkins.

Faces in the crowd of graduates included a 70-year-old student, a teen who earned his bachelor’s in just three college quarters and a female pioneer from the New York Stock Exchange.

Also in the group was the first student at Wright State to receive the Citizen Scholars Certificate for service learning and a student who is the third member of his family to graduate from Wright State’s Raj Soin College of Business.

Doreen Mogavero, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Mogavero, a pioneer in the securities industry since she began her career on Wall Street in 1975, was the first woman from the floor to be appointed to the NYSE Board of Executives.

Applications were received for 2,382 degrees: 1,530 bachelor’s degrees, 756 master’s degrees, 47 doctorates and 49 associate degrees.

Included in the class were 121 international students from 25 nations. The class included 52 Hispanic students, 56 Asian American students and 206 African American students. This graduating class had 1,297 women and 1,085 men. The youngest graduate was 19 and the oldest was 70.

But these numbers don’t tell the stories behind the degrees. Each student has their own personal graduation story.

70-year-old student longed to learn more about history

On Saturday, Johnson was the oldest student to receive a degree and in most cases he was the oldest student in class, though he says it never felt that way.

As a commercial pilot, Larry Johnson flew all over the world, but it was his interest in European and American history that led him to the classroom after he retired.

“I’ve always had a real deep interest in history,” said Johnson. My undergrad is in business with a lot of engineering. I never really had a chance with my schedule to go back to school.”

Johnson said he did a lot of independent reading on history in retirment, and even joined a history club in Dayton eight years ago but it was four years ago that he decided to go back to school—not to retrain for another career, but to satisfy his thirst to know more about history.

“I just wanted to learn more. I called the history department and they said “why don’t you take a course?” That’s what I did and the rest as they say is history,” said Johnson.

On Saturday, Johnson was the oldest student to receive a degree and in most cases he was the oldest student in class, though he says it never felt that way.

“I didn’t really feel old. I had some apprehension about going to school but once I got into class I was treated like everyone else. I didn’t have one single thought about not fitting in,” said Johnson.

Tara Purvis first graduate to earn the Citizen Scholars Certificate

As the first Wright State student to earn the Citizen Scholars Certificate, Purvis focused her capstone project on troubled youth. Purvis evaluated a gardening project at the Miami Valley Juvenile Rehabilitation Center last summer.

Tara Purvis, B.S. in social work, is an outspoken advocate for the downtrodden, a stellar student and a single mom. Her path to graduation hasn’t been easy, but she says it wouldn’t have been as rewarding if it was.

“I think community service is a huge need in our society to give back to our communities,” said Purvis.

As the first Wright State student to earn the Citizen Scholars Certificate, Purvis focused her capstone project on troubled youth. Purvis evaluated a gardening project at the Miami Valley Juvenile Rehabilitation Center last summer to see what benefit it had toward rehabilitation.

Purvis conducted two large interviews at the beginning and end of her research and found the program beneficial, and in some cases transformative.

“Physical labor and hot sun definitely take the fight out of you,” said Purvis.

Offenders worked in the garden, growing food that was later donated. Purvis says her research showed in many cases the offenders developed a sense of empathy for food-insecure people in the Miami Valley.

Purvis says developing empathy and compassion can effectively deter anti-social behavior for offenders in the future.

19-year-old earns bachelor’s in one year

By the time Greenewald was done with his first quarter of college, he had knocked out over 140 credit hours.

Kristjan Greenewald has been mathematically inclined for years. At 14, he began taking calculus. In a year, he was on to college-level electrical engineering curricula while still in high school.

When he came to Wright State last fall, he already had 55 college credit hours from AP testing and picked up another 70 through credit by examination on campus. By the time he was done with his first quarter of college, he had knocked out over 140 credit hours.

“It’s fun just going through everything so fast and getting stuff done. I enjoy school,” said Greenewald, who is graduating with a bachelor’s after just three quarters.

“My teachers and advisors were thinking I’d do it in four to five, but I did it in three with the intersession,” said Greenewald.

Greenewald added eight credit hours during the winter break intersession—an optional, three-week, intensive time for students to take more classes when most students are on break. He added another 22 credit hours in the winter and 28 in the spring to earn his bachelor’s in electrical engineering.

His next move is a master’s in electrical engineering and maybe a career at the Air Force Research Laboratory, where he’s currently interning.

“I’d like to work with sensors, signal processing, focusing more with radar and electro-optical target identification,” said Greenewald.

Graduating in just a year was his target all along.

“I set a goal of finishing in a year. It didn’t always look like I’d be able to make it but it worked out,” said Greenewald.

Third family member to earn degree from the Raj Soin College of Business

It didn't take Ritchey long to get a job. Reynolds and Reynolds has already hired him to be a remote training specialist, teaching customers how to use the company software.

Jon Ritchey took a circuitous route getting a bachelor’s degree, but somehow he knew the answer was all in the family­. Ritchey, the third in his family to graduate with a business degree from Wright State, has earned a bachelor’s in business management and a minor in marketing.

“We’ve got a lot of Wright State going in our family,” said Ritchey.

Ritchey’s mother got her degree in accountancy, as did his stepfather. His younger brother is a junior at Wright State studying economics.

“Wright State to me is the foremost school in the Dayton area. The caliber of people who graduate from here is a high class of students, specifically the school of business,” said Ritchey.

Ritchey says the reputation of his university and college definitely helped him get a job right out of college.

Reynolds and Reynolds has hired Ritchey to be a remote training specialist, teaching customers how to use the company software.