COLUMBUS, Ohio — More than 12,500 students celebrated their graduation at The Ohio State University’s spring commencement Sunday afternoon.
The graduation was a special moment for many of the graduates since the pandemic shut down many of their high school graduations four years ago. According to the university, 12,555 Buckeyes received their diploma or certificate in person — something most of them haven't done before.
Max Bolton, a finance major, said “I’m pretty excited. I didn’t get to go on stage for my high school so being able to do it is kind of cool."
Commencement began at noon and was expected to last around two and half to three hours.
This year marked the university’s 436th commencement. It was Walter Carter Jr.’s first as president.
The commencement address was given by Chris Pan, founder of MyIntent, who talked about BitCoin and Word Finder, a project by his company.
Justin Ah Chow, a communication technology and media major, said it's been a long journey to get to the stage.
"I started in 2019, finishing up my fifth year now, had a major switch halfway through and I'm on the men's gymnastics team. It's been an incredible career and an incredible time here. I'm extremely grateful to be here."
Among the graduates were 10 Ohio State football players, including defensive tackle Ty Hamilton, wide receiver Xavier Johnson and tight end Pat Gurd.
The university’s summary of degrees and certificates lists:
2,241 Buckeyes who graduated from Graduate School
3,773 who graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences
1,876 who graduated from the Fisher College of Business
1,415 who graduated from Engineering
The full breakdown of graduates and degrees can be viewed here.
During the ceremony, Ohio State officials say someone fell from the stands at Ohio Stadium and died. The incident happened just 30 minutes after the program started.
The school sent a statement saying in part, “For anyone affected by today's incident, we will make counseling and other support resources available."