Commencement 2023

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View the Commencement 2023 online gallery here.

Antioch College is pleased to announce the ninth commencement of the College on Saturday, June 24, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. Seating will begin at 8:30 a.m. The ceremony will take place on Antioch’s campus, on the steps of the historic Antioch Hall between North Hall and South Hall (on the Horseshoe). Additional seating will be available in nearby McGregor Hall, featuring a live-stream of the ceremony.

Eighteen students will receive their Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees. Fifty percent of these students are graduating with honors. The ceremony will also recognize several faculty and staff members receiving awards of excellence from the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE).

This occasion marks the second commencement under the leadership of Dr. Jane Fernandes, Antioch College President, who joined the institution August 2021.

Commencement Speaker Oluchi Omeoga is a co-founder and founding Core Team member of Black Visions, a black-led local organization that centers Black Queer and Trans folks in Minnesota and co-founded the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project or BLMP, where they still work as the Co-Executive Director overseeing Organizing and Membership, an organization that envisions a world without forced migration, where no one is forced to give up their homeland, and all Black LGBTQIA+ people are free and liberated.

Several musical selections will be presented by World House Choir, a diverse, multicultural, mixed-voice choir whose repertoire is drawn from different traditions, including world music, spiritual, gospel, folk, peace, and justice.

About Speaker Oluchi Omeoga

Student Speakers

Nia Patrice Cooper was born in Columbus, OH, though she considers herself a Cleveland-native having grown up there. She currently resides in Dayton with her 4-year-old daughter, Grace. Nia graduated from St. Peter Chanel High School, where she was a varsity cheerleader and co-captain of the dance team. Throughout her childhood and teen years, she was heavily involved in her church’s youth ministry, as well as the Cleveland All-City Arts Program.

Determined to complete her studies, Nia transferred to Antioch in the fall of 2018 at 6 ½ months pregnant after a 4-year break from college. She has been pursuing a self-designed major in Liberation Psychology and Cultural Anthropology. Throughout her time at Antioch, Nia has participated in the Prison Justice Initiative, BSU, the Black Women IG, and the Antioch Apothecary. Nia also worked as a Student Engagement Assistant, and in the Olive Kettering Library. It was her involvement with the Prison Justice Library that sparked an interest in abolition and transformative justice, largely informing her academic pursuits. After graduation, she plans to work in prison reentry before pursuing a dual degree in law and social work.

David William Klasovsky was born in Youngstown, OH, growing up for most of his life in Warren, Ohio. He attended Warren G. Harding High School and graduated in 2018. During this time, he was involved in jazz, marching, and symphonic band. After graduation, he enrolled in Youngstown State University originally for Trombone Music Performance. He transferred to Antioch College starting as a second year student in Winter Term 2021.

Academically, David has been pursuing a self-designed major called Environmental Science and Political Institutions. This is an interdisciplinary degree that emphasizes ecology and environmental science both from natural and social scientific perspectives, while studying political science matters such as economics and governmental structures. For his co-op internships, he spent a term in Chicago with alum Phillip Brigham at his law firm part time, while also conducting air quality monitoring for the Environmental Law and Policy Center. This past fall, he also worked in Antioch’s Finance and Human Resources offices on matters of hiring, departmental policy, and risk management.

At Antioch College, David took on a number of responsibilities and experiences. He chaired Community Council, worked for the Advancement department and as Assistant Community Manager, and served as the chair of the Record Advisory Board – the editorial board of Antioch’s student-run newspaper. He assisted with numerous alumni-based tasks and events, from interviewing alumni about their co-op journeys, to meeting with the Chicago alumni chapter to share information about the College, as well as his own experience. He is also the student who brought Bill’s Doughnuts to every Community Day bonfire (when he was present in Ohio). In the fall, David will attend the University of Cincinnati College of Law (Class of 2026). David was awarded the Social Justice Fellowship from the Nathaniel R. Jones Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice.

Alexis (CJ) McGilvery hails from Fort Worth, Texas where she graduated from Uplift Mighty Preparatory and continued her education here at Antioch College pursuing a degree in International Political Economy and Business Studies. During her time at Antioch, she has been a member of numerous community organizations on campus including Comcil, Curriculum Committee, BSU, BQSU, Anime IG, and Sewing IG. She has also volunteered with the YS Silver Cup Soccer league and with NCCJ Dayton. Domestically, she has coop-ed as an Insurance Agent and Village Impact Project Miller Fellow. Internationally, she has coop-ed as a gardener and volunteer for KMC France, and Environmentalist Intern with Tandana. Over the years, she has worked on the Antioch farm and as a Playwell instructor in the wellness center. She is currently the CSKC Events coordinator and Resident Assistant, as well as a columnist in the Antioch Record. After Antioch she anticipates her path will be to join the Peace Corps, become a Foreign Service Ambassador, and one day become the organizer/coordinator of several UN Summits. 

Quinn Ritzhaupt was raised in Piqua, Ohio, a tiny town about 42 miles northeast of YS. A childhood Catholic school dropout, they were homeschooled from second grade until college by their parents (who are very cool). Ritzhaupt started at Antioch in Fall 2019 as a self-designed Creative Writing major, a focus that shifted by their second quarter when then-library director Kevin Mulhall sent them upstairs to work with archivist Scott Sanders. Since Winter 2020, Ritzhaupt has spent most of their time on campus in the Olive Kettering Library, assisting with archive things as well as standard library duties (like running an Instagram for the OKL’s mascot, a Muppet named Chump).

Invested in Antioch history and tradition, Ritzhaupt mourned the loss of Antioch staples like The Record and Camelot Bike Race, both of which they helped to bring back in Spring 2021 as co-editor of The Record and co-coordinator of Camelot. They also served on the Library Director Search Committee in 2021, and was hired as the LGBTQ+ Hall Resident Assistant in Spring 2023. They run the aforementioned chumpthelibrarypuppet Instagram page, as well as thingsifoundoncampus, an ever-growing digital archive and love letter to all the unusual things left lying around the Antioch campus, starting in 2019.

They spent three co-ops on campus in the Olive Kettering Library, have two Antioch tattoos, are left-handed, twisted their ankle thrice on the Antioch campus, and tried to make every single midterm and final paper a history paper, regardless of class topic. Following their graduation from Antioch, they’ll be attending Wright State University in the Public History Master’s program.

Map & Directions

Getting to Antioch College

The most convenient airport to Yellow Springs is the Dayton International Airport, which is 25 miles away. The Columbus Airport is roughly 60 miles away.

1. Take exit 52A off Interstate 70 and head south on Route 68 toward Xenia and Yellow Springs. About seven miles down the road, you will enter Yellow Springs. Route 68 then becomes Xenia Avenue, the main street through Yellow Springs.
2. Proceed through downtown Yellow Springs and turn left at Center College St.
3. Center College St. will dead end at Livermore St. and you will see the College campus. Parking is available along Livermore and in other designated areas on campus.