Date: May 31, 2005
Contact: Michael Hopkins
Phone: (708) 534-7090
Fax: (708) 534-8399
Email: m-hopkins@govst.edu
For Immediate Release
University Park, May 31, 2005 – Governors State University will conduct the Spring Commencement of its 34th Academic Year on Sunday, June 5 at 2 p.m. The commencement ceremony will be held at the Holiday Inn Select Hotel and Convention Center, 18501 S. Harlem Avenue, in Tinley Park.
Longtime Chicago broadcaster Bob Petty will be honored at the ceremony, where he will receive the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters.
Petty, a graduate of the Governors State’s Communications program, hosted the university’s first national videoconference in 1988.
The videoconference, “Racism on Campus,” won an award for the most watched teleconference.
Governors State University Professor Emeritus Mel Muchnik, who served as the videoconference’s executive producer said, “Bob Petty was a key ingredient to the success of that event. It was an important and highly charged topic, which Bob handled fairly and expertly.”
Muchnik added, “Bob never failed to answer the call. He came back to GSU on several occasions, as a guest to the Media Symposium. He presented and chaired on topics related to Media and the City, as well as careers.”
GSU’s Student Commencement Speaker will be Don Olund, who will graduate with his Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Counseling.
Like many GSU students, Olund’s path toward his degree was that of a returning student.
He returned to school at age 40 and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from GSU in 2002. He enrolled in the university’s graduate program in Counseling afterward. He graduates with a perfect GPA.
Graduating in the ceremony will be undergraduate and graduate students from the university’s four colleges: Arts and Sciences, Education, Business and Public Administration, and Health Professions, as well as the Board of Governors Bachelor of Arts Degree Program.
Governors State was established in 1969. It serves the south suburban Chicago region and remains one of the most affordable institutions in the state.
