Ohio Wesleyan to Celebrate 169th Commencement Ceremony May 12
Zeke Brechtel, president of the Ohio Wesleyan Class of 2013, will speak May 12 during the university’s 169th commencement ceremony. (Photo by John Holliger)
DELAWARE, Ohio – Members of the Ohio Wesleyan University Class of 2013 will gather together with family and friends at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 12, to celebrate their graduation and to hear words of inspiration and advice from 1961 OWU alumnus George H. Conrades. The ceremony will be held in Phillips Glen outside of Phillips Hall, 50 S. Henry St., Delaware.
Conrades is the former chief executive officer and current chairman of Massachusetts-based Akamai Technologies Inc., which helps businesses to provide customers with secure, high-performing cloud connections. In addition, he and his wife, Patricia “Patsy” Belt Conrades, Class of 1963, are both Ohio Wesleyan Life Trustees. They are the parents of Ohio Wesleyan alumnae Laura Conrades Wilson, Class of 1988, and Anna Conrades, Class of 2003.
During the commencement ceremony, graduates and their guests also will hear from Zeke Brechtel, Ohio Wesleyan’s 2013 senior class president. Brechtel is a physics major and mathematics minor from Arvada, Colo.
In the event of thunderstorms, Ohio Wesleyan’s 2013 commencement ceremony will move indoors to Gordon Field House, 105 S. Sandusky St. Overflow seating will be available in the Benes Rooms at Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave. The final commencement location will be posted online May 12 on the Ohio Wesleyan homepage.
Before they turn their tassels, members of the Class of 2013 also will celebrate with a baccalaureate service at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 11, in Gray Chapel in University Hall, 61 S. Sandusky St. The theme of the evening will be “Worlds within the World,” exemplifying the different members of the class and the many ways in which these individuals have learned from each other during their shared OWU journey.
Both Ohio Wesleyan’s commencement ceremony and baccalaureate service will be streamed live online and archived afterward at StreamOWU.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities. Ohio Wesleyan offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. OWU combines an internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that connect classroom theory with real-world practice. Located in Delaware, Ohio, OWU’s 1,850 students represent 41 states and 45 countries. The university is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.