By contributing writer Kevin Sanders and staff writer Jennifer Kirksey Smith
The students of Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine's Class of 2002 will receive D.O. degrees on Saturday, June 1. The ceremony will take place in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium at 10 a.m.
An alumnus of the first OU-COM graduating class, William Schlotterer, will present the commencement address. Schlotterer, one of the first physicians in Ohio to work extensively with AIDS patients, is now a family physician in Sandusky.
"I am certainly proud to see an alum from the inaugural class come to address our students," said Chip Rogers, OU-COM director of external relations. "There is no one that I can think better suited to send our students out into the world than someone who has gone through the rigors of medical school."
Peter Bell, president-elect of the Ohio Osteopathic Association, and Jay Shubrook Jr., president of the OU-COM Society of Alumni and Friends will make remarks during the commencement. OU-COM Dean Jack Brose also will make remarks and award announcements, including the Dean's Award and the Student D.O. of the Year Award.
A reception will be held at the close of the ceremony in the Baker Center Ballroom.
Parking restrictions will be in effect for the ceremony. There will be a drop off area for commencement guests on University Terrace and E. Union St. The meters in the designated areas will be bagged the afternoon of Friday, May 31, by the Ohio University Police Department.
The Convocation Center will be the main area for parking. OU-COM will be running shuttles from the Convocation Center to University Terrace at Templeton Blackburn-Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Shuttles will start at 8 a.m. and continue until 9:45 a.m. Immediately following the ceremony, shuttles will resume and take guests back to the Convocation Center until 3 p.m.
Lots 36 and 37 will be reserved and signed for handicapped parking. In addition, the Guest/Visitors lot adjacent to Konneker Alumni Center will be reserved and signed for handicapped parking.
Lots 38, 39 and 6 will be used for general parking for the event, and will be signed accordingly.
