Graduation celebration

Brother and sister to receive diplomas together Friday, a decade after he completed degree.

It took 10 years, but come this Friday, Josh Denney, 31, will finally have his Columbus State diploma in hand. And it was his younger sister, Kyle (Denney) Whalen, who inspired him to fill out the paperwork to finally complete the process he began as a college student back in 2000.

Kyle, 28, a married mother of two, will receive her criminal justice associate degree while her brother Josh, will receive his associate degree in automotive technology.

And they’re only two of 791 students receiving degrees this semester.

Graduation begins at 10 a.m., Friday, Dec. 14, at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, located at 300 W. Broad St., Columbus. The event is free and open to the public. The ceremony will also be available on a live stream at http://www.livestream.com/columbusstate .                            

The commencement address will be delivered by John Lowe, CEO of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. Prior to arriving as CEO at the Columbus-based company in 2009, Lowe was an attorney with General Electric’s aviation business unit.