Wilberforce to host in-person graduation Saturday, honoring ‘20 and ‘21 class

Wilberforce University will hold an in-person commencement ceremony today for the classes of 2021 and 2020.

The outbreak of the coronavirus interrupted Wilberforce’s spring semester last year, and the university canceled the scheduled graduation ceremony. This year, Wilberforce will acknowledge and celebrate the 166 graduates from both classes.

Commencement will start at 8 a.m. on Saturday in the Gaston Lewis gym in the Alumni Multiplex.

For graduates, the day will start at 7:30 a.m., with the graduates walking from the historic fountain crossing Bickett Road to the gym. Graduates will be led by African drummers, the university said.

Salutatorian Ronald Mathews of Lorain and Valedictorian Talaya Quinn of Minneapolis, Minnesota, both 2021 graduates, will address the graduates. Wilberforce President Elfred Anthony Pinkard will present graduates with their degrees.

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William Jacob Easton, a Wilberforce student and point guard for the school’s basketball team who died in a car crash in April, will get his degree posthumously on Saturday. His parents will be there to get his degree, the university said.

Easton was finishing his last semester of school remotely at home but had planned to come back to Wilberforce for his graduation, the university said.

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Bonnie Meibers

Bonnie Meibers is a general assignment reporter covering Greene County for the Dayton Daily News. She has been with the newspaper since July 2019.