6/4/98
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University's Office of Multicultural Programs will conduct two "Rites of Passage" celebrations for graduating African-American and Hispanic/Latino seniors on campus.
A special ceremony for Hispanic/Latino students will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, at Galbreath Chapel, and will recognize both graduating and first-year Hispanic/Latino students. African-American graduates will be honored at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 11 in Baker Center Ballroom.
"When you graduate from a large institution, it's such a mass of people that it's nice to be able to recognize these people individually for their accomplishments," said Linda Daniels, director of multicultural programs at Ohio University.
The African-American celebration, once called the Black Baccalaureate, has a 10-year history at Ohio University. Daniels expects 60 students to walk in this year's special ceremony, in which students wear caps, gowns and African kente cloths provided by the Office of Multicultural Programs and the Black Students Cultural Programming Board. The speaker will be Ann Wagner Hill, an Ohio University alumna, Ohio State University adjunct professor of multicultural education, member of the Columbus Board of Education and secondary social studies teacher for Columbus City Schools. Students will receive certificates of accomplishment at the ceremony, which also will feature traditional African drummers.
Traditionally, the Hispanic/Latino celebration is much smaller, with three or four students presented with graduation scrolls each year. Melissa Cardenas, an OU alumna and assistant director of admissions, is the 1998 keynote speaker. Tanya Valencia, a graduating senior who received the King Chavez-Parks Award for minority student leadership, also will speak.