ISSUED: 10 May 2025
MEDIA CONTACT: Hans Fogle
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV —
Shepherd University held its 152nd Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 10, in the Butcher Center, conferring degrees to nearly 450 students.
The morning graduate commencement ceremony recognized 52 candidates for master’s and doctoral degrees.
Peter Loge, associate professor of media and public affairs and director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., served as the graduate commencement program special speaker and honorary degree recipient.
During his address, Loge shared a message about fostering community and encouraged graduates to view community as something they must actively build.
“It [community] isn’t a place, like the student center,” Loge said. “A community isn’t a place in which we hide, it is something we build. In this light, a community is like a garden.
“It is something we nurture and something that nurtures us. Gardens need care and attention. The best gardens have different plants and species. They attract wildlife, bugs, bees, and birds that help foster and strengthen other gardens. Like a garden, a community is something we create and that creates us.”
In the afternoon, Hoppy Kercheval, the radio “dean” of West Virginia and co-founder of WV MetroNews, served as the baccalaureate Commencement program special speaker and honorary degree recipient.
Kercheval shared six pieces of advice with the Class of 2025, including a reminder to be lifelong learners.
“The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know, right?” Kercheval said. “That’s ok, because the accumulation of knowledge over a lifetime will bring you wisdom, confidence, and power.”
He concluded his remarks by encouraging graduates to return to Shepherd.
“This is a place where you were challenged intellectually and socially,” Kercheval said. “This might be the place where you fell in love, fell out of love. Where you made friends that will last a lifetime. Now you’re anxious to leave—to go do remarkable things, have great adventures, and follow that arc that began here. But know that Shepherd is home. You’re always a Ram.”
Shepherd University President Dr. Mary J.C. Hendrix expressed gratitude to the Class of 2025 for their senior class gift—funding for a weather shelter on West Campus.
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