News & Media

Ohio Wesleyan Commencement Set for 1 P.M. Sunday, May 13

Mae C. Jemison, M.D.

DELAWARE, OHIO – Doctor, engineer, scientist, academic, entrepreneur, and public intellectual. While all of these words could be used to describe the dreams of Ohio Wesleyan University’s Class of 2012, they also describe the achievements of keynote commencement speaker and former astronaut, Mae C. Jemison, M.D.

Jemison will speak at Ohio Wesleyan’s 168th commencement ceremony, which begins at 1 p.m. May 13 in Phillips Glen outside of Phillips Hall, 50 S. Henry St., Delaware. Her remarkable career includes six years with NASA as a space shuttle astronaut and making history in 1987 as the first woman of color in space.

In the event of thunderstorms, the 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 Sunday morning on the Ohio Wesleyan website.

Before they don their caps and gowns, members of Ohio Wesleyan’s Class of 2012 also will celebrate their time at the university with a baccalaureate service at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 12, in Gray Chapel in University Hall, 61 S. Sandusky St. The theme of the evening will be “Deep Roots, Reaching Branches,” reflecting the intellectual, personal, and spiritual growth of the students during their OWU journey.

Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities, with more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Located in Delaware, Ohio, just minutes north of Ohio’s capital and largest city, Columbus, the university combines a globally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that translate classroom theory into real-world practice. OWU’s close-knit community of 1,850 students represents 47 states and 57 countries. Ohio Wesleyan was named to the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” and is included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.