Columbus State to award Spring Semester degrees May 9
Campus News | Friday, May 2, 2025
The commencement ceremony will be Friday, May 9 at 10 a.m. at the Celeste Center on the Ohio State Fairgrounds, 717 East 17th Ave., Columbus.
Graduates and attendees are strongly encouraged to prepare to arrive early for the ceremony. Graduates should report by 8 a.m. Heavy traffic is expected immediately after, due to thousands of ticketholders arriving for the start of the four-day Sonic Temple Music Festival on the Ohio State Fairgrounds complex.
See also: Information for Graduating Students
Columbus State Community College will have its fifth-largest graduating class when degrees are awarded to more than 1,260 students this week.
One of those students is 23-year-old Heisenberg Francis, who came to the United States from Tanzania in 2022. “One of the things I appreciate most about Columbus State is the support I received as I transitioned to college life,” says Francis. “Moving thousands of miles away to a new country was very intimidating, but the college Orientation and the personalized support from peers and teachers made all the difference in the world.”
Francis quickly got involved by joining the STEM Club and later became a Peer Learning Success Leader to assist other students. He says that joining the Honors Program transformed his experience “immensely” at Columbus State,
Francis plans to transfer to a university to pursue a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, followed by graduate studies in that field.
Meghan Gates, 31, says she remembers pulling into the parking lot at Columbus State on the first day of classes in the fall of 2022 “terrified of failure.” She had dropped out of another college years earlier with a GPA below 1.0. “After working fast food for nine years, I hadn’t told anyone I was returning to school,” said Gates. “I knew Columbus State was providing me with a second chance, a new life, and a chance of happiness.”
Gates excelled. She was eventually able to represent the college in Kansas City as the president of the local chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, “which that girl in the parking lot never would have even dreamed of doing.”
Gates will transfer to Capital University for a bachelor’s degree with a double major in journalism and English, with plans to pursue a master’s degree in English Education.
Charles Ballour, Jr., 29, held a dental assisting certification and a radiology license from the Fort Hayes Career Center in Columbus. However, after working in the field for several years, he realized that was not a long-term career path for him. “Instead of following a traditional four-year-college path, I enrolled at Columbus State in 2014,” he said. “It was affordable, flexible, and would allow me to work while continuing my education.”
He became a licensed real estate agent and returned to the college whenever possible. Ballour says, “Columbus State itself has been a source of motivation. I’ve shared classrooms with students in their 70s, students fresh out of high school, and working professionals balancing jobs and families.”
Ballour will transfer to Franklin University to pursue a bachelor’s degree with plans to apply for law school.
New to the commencement program this year is the addition of Columbus State’s first Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates. The college launched its first bachelor’s degree program in Autumn for students with completed Associate of Science in Nursing Degrees.
Three students with additional college credit have already completed the BSN program and will be recognized in the Spring ceremony, a remarkable achievement considering the completion of two years of college credit within two semesters. A larger BSN cohort will be recognized in December when Summer and Autumn graduates join the initial completers of the program.
Bishop J. Timothy Clarke, senior pastor of the First Church of God in Columbus, will provide the Commencement Address.
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