Tuesday, June 15, 2004
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Ohio State University awarded bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees to its largest graduating class ever, 7,225 students.
More than 5,900 of those students attended ceremonies in the Ohio Stadium, and some 40,000 family members and friends looked on for the first spring Sunday commencement since 1943.
Many of the graduates used cell phones to locate parents in the stands. University officials said the class was so large because they're doing a better job of attracting better students and retaining them.
The commencement speaker, CBS television news correspondent Erin Moriarty, an Ohio State graduate, advised the students to think for themselves if they wanted to cope in an increasingly tough and dangerous world.