Two Ridgefielders Graduate from Ohio Wesleyan University

Two local residents were among the 390 spring, summer, and fall graduates earning diplomas May 11, 2014, when Ohio Wesleyan University held its 170th annual commencement ceremony. Ohio Wesleyan's Class of 2014 included 65 cum laude, 33 magna cum laude, and 20 summa cum laude honorees.

Local graduates were:

Jaeho Lee of Ridgefield, CT, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Samantha Simon of Ridgefield, CT, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Stephen A. Ollendorff, founder of the Ollendorff Center for Human and Religious Understanding, delivered the keynote address. After his family fled Nazi Germany in 1938, Ollendorff and his mother spent a year living in the home of Ohio Wesleyan sociology professor Guy Sarvis, Ph.D., and his wife, Maud.

"To admit a Jewish family in their home and to be actively protecting the civil rights of minorities, given the times, demonstrated the commitment of Professor Sarvis and his wife to justice and social equality," said Ollendorff, whose New Jersey-based center has since created the Dr. Guy Sarvis Endowed Travel/Research Grant at Ohio Wesleyan. Both the Ollendorff Center and the Sarvis Grant support cross-cultural understanding and tolerance.

"I would like to leave each of you with these thoughts," Ollendorff told the graduates, after sharing his family's compelling story and presenting Ohio Wesleyan with a Holocaust Menorah.

"First, it is important to define your goals for not only will they largely determine your opportunities, but they will also guide you in your decision-making process," said Ollendorff, also an attorney with K&L Gates LLP, a U.S.-based law firm with more than 2,000 lawyers in 48 offices on five continents.

"Second, be ready to initiate, pursue, and seize the moment of opportunity, even if it appears in the most unlikely of times or circumstances," he said.

"Third, try to live your life as you choose to live it, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, while recognizing that certain circumstances may be beyond your control, and last, but by no means least, lead an ethical life, which will help nurture the spark of the Divine, which I believe is in each of us."

In addition to Ollendorff, Anthony M. Peddle, Ohio Wesleyan's 2014 senior class president, spoke before the crowd of graduates, families, and friends gathered for the outdoor ceremony in Ohio Wesleyan's Phillips Glen.

Peddle, an early childhood education major and English minor from Detroit, Michigan, encouraged his fellow classmates to help create the type of world in which they seek to live.

"We stand poised and ready to take on the world – not an unemployed, violent, or intolerant world – but the world of our dreams," Peddle said, "the world we get to shape and create.

"We stand equipped with a liberal arts education, more life experiences than many of our peers, and, quite frankly, more stamps in our passports than we could ever dream," he said. "We are global leaders. We are lifelong learners. We are OWU."

Before concluding the 2014 commencement ceremony, Ohio Wesleyan President Rock Jones, Ph.D., encouraged the new graduates to share their knowledge and compassion with a world in need.

"If, here at Ohio Wesleyan, you have found freedom, take it with you into the world," Jones said, sharing traditional OWU graduation wishes. "If, here at Ohio Wesleyan, you have found peace, go and share it with others. If, here at Ohio Wesleyan, you have found some portion of truth, go and seek it all the more. If, here at Ohio Wesleyan, you have dreamed dreams, help one another, and those dreams may come true. If, here at Ohio Wesleyan, you have known love, give some back to a bruised and hurting world."

Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation's premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private, coed university offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, minors, and concentrations, and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Ohio Wesleyan combines a challenging, internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities to connect classroom theory with real-world practice. OWU's 1,850 students represent 42 states and 37 countries. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book "Colleges That Change Lives," listed on the 2013 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review "best colleges" lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.

 

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Submitted by Ridgefield, CT

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