Bowie State to Host Spring Commencement for 800 Graduates

Degree Marks a Lifetime Achievement for One 79-Year-Old

 

MEDIA CONTACT: David Thompson, dlthompson@bowiestate.edu, 301-860-4311

(BOWIE, Md.) – The time for degree conferring and tassel turning is here, as Bowie State University prepares to host the Spring Commencement on Friday, May 26 at Bulldog Stadium. Over 800 graduates will receive their degrees and cross the stage towards new careers, opening their own business or continuing higher learning pursuits, which is the path a 79-year-old graduate will pursue.

Kenneth C. Frazier, former CEO and president of Merck & Co., Inc., will deliver the commencement address to encourage and challenge the graduates to use what they’ve learned at Bowie State to leave a positive mark on the world. A livestream of the ceremony will be available to view beginning at 9 a.m.

Commencement represents more than just the conclusion of an academic program. It represents a new beginning for some graduates who may be the first in their family to go earn a college degree. For others, commencement marks the opportunity to elevate their lives to another level that might have seemed out of reach before. Then there are those for whom commencement represents the end of a journey started long ago.

That’s the case for Cleveland Ray-Artis, who is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the age of 79. Artis was drafted into the Army out of high school and served from 1962-66. In 1970, he enrolled at Federal City College, now known as the University of the District of Columbia, but his education was interrupted after he became addicted to alcohol and drugs. Artis eventually sobered up and joined the Postal Service, where he spent 46 years before retiring in 2013. But in his retirement, Artis had reoccurring thoughts about going back to school. One day in 2017, he decided to act on those thoughts.

“I walked in the living room and told my wife, ‘I’m going back to school,’” said Artis. “She looked at me like I’m crazy and said, ‘For what?’ I said ‘I don’t know.’”

Artis, who was diagnosed with PTSD in 2014, decided he wanted to study psychology and use his education to help troubled youths and veterans who share his condition. He started at Prince George’s Community College before transferring to Bowie State in 2020. Even though it had been 50 years since Artis last stepped foot on a university campus, he says he felt right at home at Bowie State.

“It’s been a phenomenal experience for me,” said Artis. “It was more of a family-oriented thing where I got everything that I needed. The students were just as phenomenal as the instructors. They had group projects, and everyone wanted me in their group because of my life experiences. I was fully at home.”

Dr. Ometha Lewis-Jack, interim chair of the Psychology Department, says it was a pleasure having Artis in her class, and she uses him as an example for her other students of what a person can accomplish when they put their mind to it.

“It feels good to know that at his age he still has that drive for further education and that zest to learn,” said Lewis-Jack. “He’s the mirror I hold up to students and say it doesn’t matter how old you are. If you have that drive and ambition to reach your goals, you can get it.”

Artis will be back on campus in the fall to start his master’s in psychology program, but he’s looking forward to finishing this part of his journey when he walks across the stage on Friday.

“It feels like I want to jump out of my body and watch the whole procession,” said Artis. “I’m just overwhelmed. I want to be an example of someone who has tenacity. Don’t make no difference how old you are. As long as you’re still breathing, anything is possible.”

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.