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About 800 students received their diplomas at Fall Commencement on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019. (FILE)

About 900 students receive diplomas during Fall Commencement

Correction appended. 

About 900 students received diplomas from Ohio University on Saturday at Fall Commencement. 

The ceremony honored those earning doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and associate's degrees.

OU President Duane Nellis began the ceremony by telling students to “soak up” the feeling of accomplishment that graduation brings. 

Nellis said he wants students to feel confident that the education they received at OU will prepare them for their future in a world that is constantly changing.  

“With the pace of technological change reaching exponential levels, none of us can be sure about our future (or) what it will look like in 25 years, 15 years, 10 years or even five years from now,” Nellis said. “Take your lessons, your newly honed skills, and use them for good. We’re proud of you.”

Nellis also said OU students will always have a home at the university.

“You can always be assured that no matter how far you roam and how much the world changes and how many years go by, every one of you will continue to share a common bond that will never be broken,” he said. “We are, and always will be, Bobcats.”

Executive Vice President and Provost Chaden Djalali recognized the faculty members that play a significant role in students’ lives. 

“Thank you for your dedication to our students, a dedication that starts with your commitment to your respective professions. ... Your scholarly endeavors have helped make Ohio University a world-class institution of higher education,” he said. “Thank you for caring so deeply about our students … Your work is the very heart of the mission of Ohio University.”

Steven Evans, the commencement speaker, a psychology professor and co-director of the Center for Intervention Research in Schools, said graduation is a milestone reached through a combination of choice and chance. 

Evans described the different path that students have taken in their educational career with a word used in the field of psychology: “equifinality.”

“In my field, ‘equifinality’ refers to many different paths one may take over years of development to end up at a certain point,” Evans said. “Some of you had serious hardships that you had to overcome during your studies. Some of you made mistakes along the way that could have or did change your course … but you made it.” 

Evans also spoke about how graduating relates to a phrase that he told his children when they were young: “Be a good friend and a hard worker.”

“You’re sitting here today, at least partly because you were a hard worker — not just a hard worker for an hour, or a day, but a hard worker over time,” Evans said. “Being a good friend and a hard worker are things you can strive to achieve. However, when that is combined with finding your passion and finding your talents, you have the key to happiness.”

@NolanSimmons37

ns622217@ohio.edu 

Correction: A previous version of this report incorrectly stated the number of graduates. The article has been updated to reflect the most accurate information.

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