Trustee's Welcome by Thomas Edward Hoaglin '71
Vice Chair, Board of Trustees
B.A. Denison University, M.B.A. Stanford University
President, Chairman and CEO of Huntington Bancshares Inc. and Huntington National Bank
On behalf of the Board of Trustees of Denison University, I am delighted to welcome you to Denison's 166th Annual Commencement exercises, concluding the year in which we have celebrated the 175th anniversary of the college.
Graduates, this is the day you've been waiting for: the culmination of the four years of your Denison experience. Today you are no longer students in the strict sense of the word, but you join a distinguished group of lifelong learners known as Denison alumni. Like those who have gone before, you will be called upon to lead by excellence in your chosen endeavors and in service to your community, the nation and the world.
One of your fellow alumni will be honored today with an Honorary Doctorate. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Denison class of 1980, will be awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws by his alma mater and will bring the Commencement address. By excelling in his chosen field of economics and dedicating himself to a life of public service, Dr. Holtz-Eakin exemplifies what Denison graduates become when they go out into the world. This combination of achievement and service characterizes Denisonians throughout the years and will characterize the graduates who walk across this platform today.
We will also honor another who has demonstrated this dedication to achievement and service: Noted developmental psychologist Edward Zigler, a pioneer in initiatives serving children and families, will be awarded the honorary Doctor of Science.
Today we not only mark the conclusion of your academic enterprise over the past four years, we look into the future you and others of your generation will create. Perhaps you will even sit upon this platform at some future Commencement, looking out across the field of graduating Denisonians and sending them forth to make their marks on the world. Wherever life takes you, we have no doubt that you will represent your Alma Mater with distinction.
On behalf of all alumni who have served as Trustees through the years, I thank you, Class of 2007, for joining the Denison family. You have allowed Denison to become a part of you, and you have given the college and its community much in return. Congratulations, and welcome to the Society of the Alumni!