“1,100 days” topped off with Class of 2024 graduation
Hanover College celebrated its 191st Commencement, Saturday, May 25, with the conferral of bachelor’s degrees to the 213 members of the Class of 2024. The ceremony was held at The Point overlooking the Ohio River.
Photo Gallery / Recap Video / 2024 Commencement Program
Hanover’s senior class joined the campus community during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. During their time at the College, the students overcame many uncertainties, learned to connect and assemble once again, and were essential to revitalizing the traditional college experience for those who have followed.
Marcus Goodpaster ’24, a Dean’s List student, a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and captain of the baseball team, delivered the senior address.
“Eleven hundred days, approximately, that’s how much time we’ve spent at Hanover. And much like my fellow classmates today, when I woke up, I looked in the mirror and saw a man I barely recognized,” he offered, reflecting on their seemingly brief time on campus. “Somehow, in those 1,100 days, the man staring back at me looked different. He looked like me and talked like me, but he was heavier and a little taller. Behind the bedhead and the acne, his expression filled with calmness, yet he seemed much more courageous.”
“We have weathered storms of uncertainty, navigated through the maze of self-discovery and emerged as individuals sculpted by our experience,” Goodpaster continued. “Throughout our time here, we have forged bonds that we once thought were unbreakable, shared laughter that echoed through these halls and shed tears in moments of both triumph and defeat. But now, as we prepare to embark on separate paths, the prospect of leaving behind the comfort of familiarity fills us with an indescribable sense of sorrow.”
Among the Class of 2024 were 26 legacy students, like Goodpaster, whose parents or other family members once roamed Hanover’s hallways. The group also featured 72 students who graduated with honors, including 23 students with high honors (magna cum laude) and 17 with highest honors (summa cum laude).
Anjolaoluwa Favour Oyebadejo ’24, Meredith Shepherd ‘24 and Kennedi Burroughs ’24 were recognized as the top senior award recipients. Oyebadejo merited the College’s John Finley Crowe Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence. Shepherd earned the Henry C. Long Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence. Shepherd and Burroughs each received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for community service.
A former Hanover student, Joan Phillips Leitzel ‘58, was presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. Leitzel was a mathematics professor and associate provost for curriculum and instruction at Ohio State University. She worked as division director at the National Science Foundation and, later, served as president of the University of New Hampshire.
Leitzel, after recently looking through her 1958 Revonah, reminisced, “As I looked at the photos in my yearbook, I knew those faculty: John Yarnelle, Dorothy Bucks, Ned Guthrie, Mary Louise Fitton, Bob Bowers, Leonard Kramer, Leland Miles and John Jansen. I didn’t need to read their names. I recognized them. These were people who set my life path and launched me well. And all the students in that book. I remembered them and recalled all we did together. Everything came back to me.”
“I know you will not have a four and one-half pound printed book that records your college experiences,” she continued. “But I’m sure you have lots of electronic and other records that I hope you will save. I assure you, they will mean a great deal as you think back about your years here.”
Stacie Farris ’98, president of the Alumni Leadership Council, welcomed the graduating seniors into the Hanover College Alumni Association.
“Being an alumni of Hanover College means that you are forever linked to the liberal arts education that has taught you so much, challenged you to believe more and pushed you to become the individuals you are today,” Farris stated. “While no two Hanover College experiences are exactly the same, the spirit of Hanover binds us together. Wherever you go, you are destined to meet a Hanoverian along the way, and I promise, you will find things in common, no matter how far apart you are in graduation years.”
During the ceremony, Elaine Kops-Bedel ’74, chair, offered greetings from the Hanover Board of Trustees. President Lake Lambert welcomed graduates and guests, recognized top student award recipients and conferred degrees to each student. Carey Adams, provost and vice president for academic affairs, presented each candidate during the conferral of degrees and recognized eight retiring faculty members.
Retiring educators Jeff Brautigam (history), Deborah Hanson (education), John Krantz (psychology), Diane Magary ’87 (business), Leonidis Pantelidas (physics and astronomy), Eduardo Santa Cruz (Spanish), Aimin Shen (philosophy) and Kay Stokes (English) were acknowledged during the ceremony. The faculty members served the campus community for a combined 185 years.
The Rev. Catherine Y.E. Knott, Ball Family Chaplain, performed the invocation and benediction. She also delivered the sermon at the traditional pre-graduation baccalaureate service, held May 24 in Fitzgibbon Recital Hall, Lynn Center for Fine Arts.
The commencement activities included live choral performances by the Hanover College Choir and instrumentals by the Hanover College Instrumental Ensemble.
The choir, directed by Madlen Batchvarova, professor of music, featured members of the campus and local communities. In addition to the processional and recessional, the instrumental ensemble, directed by Jonathan Stanley, assistant professor of music, accompanied the choir, graduates and guests during the traditional singing of Hanover’s “Alma Mater.”
Marshals for commencement activities included faculty members Ann Kirkland, professor of French, Dan Murphy ‘77, professor of history, and Bill Tereshko, professor of kinesiology and integrated physiology.
