By PIPER GALLAGHER
Northwestern will honor its fall graduates this Saturday during the fall commencement.
Beginning at 2:30pm, the graduation ceremonies will happen in Percefull Fieldhouse, where Northwestern will honor more than 100 graduates.
This year’s graduating class includes 31 masters students and 71 undergraduates, according to Calleb Mosburg. No doctoral degrees will be awarded this fall, but the doctoral nursing program will honor some in the spring. The ceremony can be seen on a livestream that is available from the Northwestern Athletic Youtube Channel.
Thad Dilbeck, a Northwestern graduate, is set to give the commencement address according to a press release from Northwestern.
Dilbeck, a former Ranger quarterback, is from Pawhuska. He still currently lives there and is the Executive Director of Activities and Athletics for Bartlesville Public Schools.
During his time as a student-athlete, he earned OIC Player of the Week honors and was named to the All-Conference and All-Academic teams. He was also involved on campus as a member of Phi Beta Lambda and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
He also helped the Rangers win Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference championships in 1986 and 1989 during his years on the team.
Dilbeck earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and business administration in 1991, followed by a Bachelor of Science in elementary education in 1994. With more than 25 years of experience in education, Dilbeck has worked as a teacher, coach and administrator. He completed his Master of Education in educational leadership at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 2010.
Now, at Bartlesville Public Schools, he stays successful in his field.
In 2020, he was named the Oklahoma Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association 6A East Athletic Director Newcomer of the Year. He also serves as secretary of the Oklahoma Frontier Valley Conference and sits on the board of the Bartlesville Sports Commission.
Dilbeck continues to stay involved with Northwestern as a trustee for the Northwestern Foundation and Alumni Association and as a member of its governance committee.
Delivering the invocation and benediction for this year’s commencement is Steve Hamm, who is a minister at the College Hill Church of Christ.
The commencement is open to the public, and doors will open ahead of time for viewers to find seating. Those who cannot attend in person can view the entire ceremony via livestream on youtube.com/NWOSURangers.
Photos from the commencement can be found for free on the NWOSU Rangers flickr page, which can be found on the website under commencement information.
The following week after commencement will be finals week, and the semester will wrap up on December 12.