He turned around at one point to pose for a selfie with the student government president and the graduating student body: graduates ranging in age from 19 to 61, hailing from 58 Ohio counties, 23 states and 19 nations.
“When facing adversity, keeping it simple and remembering the golden rule of treating others as you would be treated will guide you through,” Rosenberger, R-Clarksville and a 2012 WSU graduate, advised them.
Rosenberger was introduced by Provost Thomas Sudkamp, who oversaw the ceremony instead of former WSU president David Hopkins, who resigned his post in March.
Rosenberger didn’t specifically mention Hopkins or the university’s current budget crisis, ongoing federal investigation, lawsuits and other issues in recent years that led the speaker last year to advise fellow lawmakers to use caution when dealing with the school “because clearly they can’t handle themselves right now.”
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Rosenberger said Saturday that when considering giving the address he experienced a “sense of pause because of recent events at Wright State” but that dissipated when he remembered his time at the school.
“There’s no question this university has faced its share of challenges and hardships in recent past brought on by so few, but I know this institution, and it boasts some of the best faculty, and obviously you as some of the best students,” he said.
“Wright State has an obligation to demand the best of its students, and the university alumni and its students have every right to demand the best from this institution. I am confident that just as you each are about to experience your new beginning in life, Wright State is on the right track for a new beginning as well that will carry it on for many many years to come.”
Jordan Keckler, who will graduate from WSU in the fall with a degree in organizational leadership, spent the ceremony in the Nutter Center hallway manning a table selling graduation memorabilia. She was optimistic about the half-century-old school’s future in the face of current problems.
“I think we’re definitely going to overcome it,” she said. “I think we’ve done a lot in 50 years and I think we are going to overcome it in a few years.”
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