Hillsdale College Hosts 172nd Annual Commencement Ceremony, Welcomes Keynote Speaker Pat Sajak
May 11 2024 - 5:49PM
Business Wire
The annual ceremony recognized graduating class
of 2024, top academic honors, outstanding seniors, retiring
faculty, and Professor of the Year
Hillsdale College celebrated its 172nd Commencement on Saturday,
May 11. Pat Sajak, television game show host and chairman of the
College’s Board of Trustees, delivered the keynote address, and the
College conferred honorary degrees and recognized top academic
graduates.
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Hillsdale College Hosts 172nd Annual
Commencement Ceremony, Welcomes Keynote Speaker Pat Sajak. Photo
Credits: Hillsdale College
In his address, Sajak spoke to the graduating students about
civility.
“I am always reluctant to get into the ‘world is falling apart’
mode because people my age have always felt the world is falling
apart… but there does seem to be something more insidious going on
this time in our politics and social media, COVID, in our education
establishment, or whichever you think the guilty entity might be.
But it does seem to be a growth in animosity between and among
individuals,” said Sajak. “Those of you graduating today have so
much to offer the world, whether it is in business, health care,
education, raising a family, or a hundred other ways. Your
Hillsdale education and the values you learned here will make this
country and this world a better place. But, I humbly ask that you
also strive to practice civility in everything you do.”
Sajak has been the host of Wheel of Fortune longer than anyone
has hosted any program in the history of American television. He
joined the show in 1981 and has been at the helm for more than
7,000 episodes. He began his broadcasting career as a radio
announcer in Chicago in 1967, while attending Columbia College. He
left school to join the Army in 1968 and served as the morning disc
jockey on the American Forces Vietnam Network in Saigon. Following
his military service, his career took him to Washington, D.C.,
Kentucky, Tennessee, and, in 1977, to Los Angeles. Less than five
years later, he was named the host of Wheel of Fortune. He
previously served as a board member at the Claremont Institute in
California when it was headed by Dr. Arnn. Sajak has served on
Hillsdale’s Board of Trustees since 2002. He was the vice chairman
from 2003 to 2019 and was named chairman in 2019. He and his wife
Lesly have two grown children and split their time between
California and Maryland.
“He is retiring after an unprecedentedly long career at the top.
There have been huge changes in the media, and his show is a
constant — he has been a constant,” said Hillsdale College
President Larry P. Arnn. “Above all, what is important to him — his
family, his work, his achievements, his life — he is trying to be a
good fellow and take care of those he loves and do a good job at
his job. I should say, on behalf of the College, that it is
grateful, as it has profound reason to be. Thank you, Pat.”
Arnn thanked faculty, administration, parents, and friends of
the College for making the ceremony possible. He praised the
graduating class and the life they have lived together on campus
and in the classroom.
“It is a way of living — a very high way of living, and it’s
lived that way by younger people. They have to want to grow. If
they struggle, it will be joyous, and they will grow. It is the
great progress in nature,” said Arnn. “This senior class has grown
as much as any I have ever seen, and I congratulate them.”
Three-hundred and thirty-two undergraduates from the Class of
2024 received their degrees. Forty-one graduate students received
their degrees.
Dr. Arnn recognized Professor of English Chris Busch, who is
retiring from Hillsdale College after 33 years of service. Dr. Arnn
also recognized the 2024 Professor of the Year — Assistant
Professor of History Charles Yost — as well as this year’s top
academic graduates and outstanding seniors.
Hillsdale College was founded in 1844 and has held this ceremony
annually since 1860.
To view photos of the event, click here.
About Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College is an independent, nonsectarian, Christian
liberal arts college located in southern Michigan. Founded in 1844,
the College has built a national reputation through its classical
liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept
federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of
student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort
promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly
speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 6.6
million. For more information, visit hillsdale.edu.
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Emily Stack Davis 517-803-3745 PR@hillsdale.edu