FAIRMONT, W.Va. – Fairmont State University will celebrate the 154th commencement Saturday, May 6 with three ceremonies in the Feaster Center. Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Tim Oxley, said there will be no pandemic restrictions, but attendees will be asked to leave the building following each ceremony so set-up for the next group can be completed.
“We have about 471 who are pending graduates for spring,” Oxley said. “Of those, we have about 280 that will walk through commencement, and we have three separate ceremonies.”
Many of these graduates are single parents, reentering school to advance in the workforce, or traditional students, but Oxley said the vast majority of these students are West Virginia residents. The commencement is the culmination of all the sacrifices and accomplishments made with family, friends, and other students.
“They are at this point in their lives having endured a number of those hardships or having to overcome those circumstances, so that even sweetens in many ways the achievements they’re celebrating during commencement exercises,” Oxley said.
The 10 a.m. ceremony will be for the College of Business and Aviation and the College of Nursing. At 1 p.m., graduates from the College of Liberal Arts will get their degrees, followed at 4 p.m. by the College of Education, Health, and Human Performance and the College of Science and Technology. Regents Bachelor of Arts graduates will also participate in the 4 p.m. ceremony.
“At 4 p.m., the ceremony that will probably have the most attendees is the College of Education, Health, and Human Performance and the College of Science and Technology, and our Regents Bachelor of Arts students will be in that ceremony.”
Speaking at the ceremonies this year will be Fairmont State alumnus William “Bus” Jaco, Ph.D. Jaco is Regents Professor Emeritus at Oklahoma State University and Adjunct Professor of Mathematics at Rice University. He has been a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, California, and the American Institute of Mathematics in Palo Alto, California.
“He graduated from Fairmont State University a number of years ago, and I understand he is a phenomenal storyteller, so I’m looking forward to his commencement address,” Oxley said. “But he will be speaking at all three of the commencements.”
In addition to celebrating the accomplishments of the graduates, Oxley said it is also a reminder of the role Fairmont State University plays in the community. From working with students to map out an academic plan to reach goals to collaborating with businesses to produce job-ready talent, all of the things Fairmont State University can do for the state’s economy are on display.
“It is a way for them to celebrate, but as a university, it’s a way to showcase what we’re about,” Oxley said. “We’re not just about education; we’re about preparing students for the rest of their lives.”