"Asterisk" classes celebrated at in-person AU commencement
05/08/2021 ASHLAND, Ohio – These were the classes worthy of a special asterisk.
The 499 undergraduate students and 201 graduate students who filled the rows of socially distanced chairs Saturday at Jack Miller Stadium at Ashland University represented the Classes of 2020 and 2021.
“I think of what you have endured over the last year or more,” President Carlos Campo told students in each of the two ceremonies. “You’ll truly be forever known as ‘that’ graduating class. When you finally get your diploma and you hang it in your office, your house, wherever it goes – it should have a special asterisk that you were one of these. You were the COVID classes.”
But the strain of the last 15 months gave way to celebration, as commencement exercises were held in person, albeit with the observance of COVID-19 protocols: fist bumps and nods replaced handshakes, band and choral music was pre-recorded, seating was limited and, while degrees were conferred, the papers were mailed.
None of that stopped speaker Jud Logan from bringing a message of optimism and hope. A member of four U.S. Olympic teams. A world-record holder in the hammer throw, he just completed his 14th season as head AU track and field coach and prior to that served 11 years as an assistant coach.
Ironically, he said, he only planned to stay at Ashland for a year. Beyond that, he never really planned for a career in track and field.
Logan’s father played football for The Ohio State University, was drafted by the Cleveland Browns and then quickly traded to the Green Bay Packers. Logan’s brother followed his father to OSU. But when it came Jud Logan’s turn, the offer came from Kent State University – a partial scholarship for football and a partial scholarship for track.
But he wanted to be like his father. “Every room my father walked into, he commanded respect,” Logan said. “I thought the only way to get that respect was to play in the NFL.” Later, he came to realize that the respect shown his father was because of the respect and compassion he showed everyone with whom he came into contact. “It was the way he treated people and that’s the person I needed to become.
“I feel like I carried on what that man started,” he said.
He offered advice to the graduates, broken into six steps: Find your life giver (“someone who believes in you more than you believe in yourself”), be an explorer (“get out of your comfort zone; get comfortable with being uncomfortable”), find the gold standard, develop something that makes others want to be where you’re at, be willing to mentor and give all you have (“what you save is lost forever”).
Honored at the undergraduate ceremony were valedictorians and salutatorians from the Spring Class of 2020, the Fall Class of 2020 and the Spring Class of 2021. They included Spring 2020 valedictorians Camryn Bickerstaff, Elizabeth Paydo and Cassandra Amick and salutatorian John Duldner; Fall 2020 valedictorian Alyssa Srail and salutatorian Samantha Coon; and Spring 20201 valedictorians Faith Edwards, Alexia Miller, Stacia Tietje and salutatorian Kassandra Blackburn. A posthumous degree was awarded to Alexa Robinson, who died in an accident in November of 2020.
Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) offers each of its student constituencies The Ashland Promise, including “teaching students how to think, not what to think”. Committed to affordability, the University now offers incoming residential freshman the Tuition Relief Scholarship, as well as a variety of new forms of financial assistance for both new and continuing students. ###