WKU Confers Degrees To 1,488 Students At 161st Commencement

May 12, 2007

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University conferred degrees to 1,488 students, awarded an honorary doctorate to director John Carpenter and honored outstanding graduates and faculty Saturday in undergraduate ceremonies of its 161st Commencement.

The 1,817 spring graduates recognized Friday and Saturday were another record for WKU, which has seen its enrollment post sustained growth over the past nine years. WKU conferred 1,622 degrees in its May 2006 ceremonies.

Carpenter, a successful director, screenwriter, producer and composer, was honored with an honorary doctor of fine arts degree during the morning ceremony. Carpenter’s films include “Halloween,” “Escape from New York,” “The Thing” and “Vampires.”

Carpenter is a graduate of College High and attended WKU from 1965 to 1968 before leaving Bowling Green for film school at the University of Southern California. Carpenter, whose father is a retired WKU music faculty member, was inducted into WKU’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 1999.

WKU President Gary Ransdell used Rod Stewart’s “Forever Young” to encourage graduates with a message of youth. “I love my work because it keeps me young,” Dr. Ransdell said. “It keeps me engaged with young minds and the passions and the emotions and the energies of youth.”

Graduates from the Potter College of Arts & Letters, Gordon Ford College of Business, Bowling Green Community College and University College were recognized in the morning ceremony while graduates of the College of Health and Human Services, Ogden College of Science and Engineering and College of Education and Behavioral Sciences were recognized in the afternoon ceremony. WKU conferred degrees to 329 graduate students on Friday night.

During the afternoon ceremony, Leigh Anne Roden, a communication disorders major from Summer Shade, was recognized as the Ogden Foundation Scholar. The top academic award is presented to one graduating baccalaureate degree senior who has demonstrated exceptional academic achievement and outstanding university and civic engagement.

WKU conferred degrees to students who are completing degree programs this spring and also recognized several hundred more who will complete their degrees during the summer term.

Honor graduates, faculty award winners and newly commissioned military officers were recognized at both ceremonies. The spring commencement ceremonies were divided and held in Diddle Arena because of construction and renovation under way at Smith Stadium.

In his remarks to graduates, Dr. Ransdell said he and his wife, Julie, attended the recent New Orleans jazz festival. “One of the performers this year was Rod Stewart, one of the classic rockers from our youth,” he said. “The very first song he sang was, of all his hits, my favorite. And it is the message I leave with you today and I cannot think of a better one.”

Dr. Ransdell read the lyrics to “Forever Young”:

May the good lord be with you down every road you roam,
And may sunshine and happiness surround you when you’re far from home.
And may you grow to be proud, dignified, and true
And do unto others as you would have done to you.
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart you’ll always stay
Forever young.
May good fortune be with you, may your guiding light be strong.
Build a stairway to heaven with a prince or a vagabond.
And may you never love in vain
And in my heart you will remain
Forever young.
And when you finally fly away I’ll be hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime no one can ever tell.
But whatever road you choose
I’m right behind you, win or lose.
Forever young.

“My challenge to you is to indeed stay forever young,” he said. “Don’t lose your youth and don’t correlate it with age. Some of the most youthful people I know are also some of the oldest. As you gain the wisdom and the maturity of a life well-lived, I hope you do so with grace and innocence, the innocence of a young generation.”
As part of the Commencement recessional, “Forever Young” played on the Diddle Arena sound system.
               
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