BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — Over 1,500 Bulldogs are now referred to as alumni after graduating from Ferris State University over the weekend.
The university in Big Rapids hosted five separate ceremonies over over the course of two days, May 5 and May 6, at Jim Wink Arena to wrap up the 2022-2023 academic year.
The activities began Friday afternoon with a ceremony for Michigan College of Optometry and College of Health Professions graduates. In the evening, they celebrated the College of Pharmacy and Doctorate in Community College Leadership.
Festivities continued on Saturday without the excitement dying down as students got their degrees, with the College of Engineering Technology, College of Business, and College of Arts, Sciences and Education each having their own ceremony throughout the day.
Leading his first spring commencement, President Bill Pink drew from his college basketball career when giving advice for the students concerning their futures beyond Ferris. He recalled when he often competed as an undersized post player, encouraged graduates to think “big” and play “big."
“The speaker and writer Marianne Williamson said it best when she said, ‘Your playing small does not serve the world,’” said Pink. “If you play small, that doesn’t help us out. It doesn’t help a world that needs Ferris State grads to come in, make a difference, and, in effect, change the world. Your playing small does not help this world. You play big. You go out and make a difference in lives.”
Though he also gave the 2023 graduates a clear reminder that while focusing on what's next, the Home of the Bulldogs will always be their home-away-from-home.
“As the very founder of this great university, Woodbridge Ferris, and his wife, Helen, the way that they mapped out the university on the path to what we are today, over 135 years later,” Pink said. “Their whole goal, in providing education for everyone, the focus was simple: make the world a better place. That’s what Ferris State graduates do, and you do it because you play big. Don’t ever forget that. You come back and see us. You come back because you’re always a Bulldog. Bless you, and where you go from here.”
The Bulldogs then received their official welcome to the Ferris Alumni Association from Emily Coles, an alumna and president of the organization.
“It is my great honor to congratulate all of you for the first time as alumni of Ferris State University,” Coles said. “It’s been 15 years since I was sitting where you’re at today, and although it sounds like a cliché, it really does feel like it was just yesterday. I know you will face many new possibilities, opportunities and, yes, challenges. But you’re ready because you are a Bulldog. You are and always will be a Bulldog. That means we are depending on you to represent Ferris State University with pride, to use the knowledge and skillset you have acquired here to really make the world a better place.”
Also celebrating new alumni was Kendall College of Art and Design. Their commencement ceremony was on Saturday at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center. Graduates from KCAD were from December of 2022, Spring of 2023 and Summer of 2023.
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