YSU President Tressel to address summer graduates Saturday

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel will give the keynote address at YSU’s Summer Commencement 10 a.m. Saturday in Beeghly Center.

Kenzie Ellise Black will be the student speaker at the ceremony.

Tressel took office July 1. A native of Northeast Ohio, he graduated from Berea High School in suburban Cleveland in 1971. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from Baldwin-Wallace College in 1975 and a master’s degree in Education from the University of Akron in 1977. He also received honorary degrees from YSU in 2001 and Baldwin-Wallace in 2003.

He previously was executive vice president for Student Success at the University of Akron. Prior to joining the University of Akron, Tressel was head football coach at Ohio State University from 2001 to 2010, where his teams won the national championship in 2002 and seven Big Ten championships. As head football coach at YSU from 1986 to 2000, Tressel’s teams won four Division I-AA national championships. He also was executive director of Athletics at YSU from 1994 to 2000.

Black, originally from Arlington, Texas, moved to Youngstown at age 9 and graduated from Poland Seminary High School in 2010.

As a high school freshman, Kenzie began volunteering at Operation Learning Community Program, where she continued her service throughout college. A member of the National Honor Society, Kenzie graduated high school with a 3.91 GPA and began her college career at Slippery Rock University. She transferred to YSU in her sophomore year.

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