Spring 2022 Undergraduate Commencement| Jamie Naylor| The Wright State Guardian
Wright State University celebrates the spring 2022 commencement of thousands of undergraduate graduates from all disciplines and backgrounds, at this weekend’s ceremony. Featured speakers highlighted the struggles and strength of the Class of 2022.
Graduating Class
President Susan Edwards had one word to describe this year’s graduating class: Brilliant.
Hundreds of undergraduates packed the main floor and thousands of their family and friends packed the stands at the Wright State Nutter Center. Screams of congratulations could be heard as each name was called starting with the College of Health, Education and Human Services.
Overall there were 1,249 Bachelor’s degrees awarded at the Saturday ceremony. This is a decrease from the nearly 1,900 graduates in 2021. Edwards remarked on how the COVID-19 pandemic could have been the cause of this decline. She also discussed how the pandemic greatly impacted the class of 2022 and the resilience of the graduating students.
“How did you get here? You have grit,” Edwards said.
According to the University press release for the event, the youngest bachelor’s degree earner was 19 years old, while the oldest was 65 years old. The graduate school had 412 masters’ degrees and 27 doctoral degrees presented in Friday’s ceremony. The youngest masters’ degree earner was 21 years old, while the oldest was 73 years old.
The celebration also recognized honors students, those in student leadership, intercultural centers and activities, campus life activities and military and veterans.
This year’s international student graduates featured 91 graduates from 23 countries compared to the 19 countries from last year, according to the press release.
Speakers
Student Body President Jonathon Ciero also spoke of resilience in his speech and how every graduate had a right to feel proud and optimistic.
“Our degree symbolized that we have persisted,” Ciero said.
Other notable speakers included Governor Mike Dewine via video address, President of Faculty Brian Boyd, Chair of the Board of Trustees Tom Gunlock, Interim Provost Oliver Evans and President of the Alumni Board of Directors Michael Robertson.
The graduating class was automatically made members of the Alumni Association in tradition with other graduating classes and Robertson closed with this encouraging message:
“This is only one step in your journey and the alumni association is here to support you,” Robertson said.
