MONTGOMERY, W.Va. — Saturday’s 118th commencement ceremony at West Virginia University Institute of Technology, also known as WVU Tech, will be the final one to ever be held in Montgomery, Tech’s longtime home.
By June 30, Tech faculty, staff and students will be fully moved from the Montgomery campus to the new campus site in Beckley.
“It’s a celebration of the graduates,” said Jen Wood Cunningham, director of university relations for WVU Tech. “Even though it is our last commencement in Montgomery, it really is about the special day for our students who are graduating and their families.”
As is tradition, the Tech class marking a golden anniversary will also be recognized. This year, it’s the Class of 1967.
This year’s commencement speaker is Bruce Wiegmann, a NASA aerospace engineer who’s a native of Weirton and a 1981 graduate of WVU Tech with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
Wiegmann currently works as the principal investigator for NASA’s Heliophysics Electrostatic Rapid Transit System or Electric Sail propulsion at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
“His speech connects the fact of all the change that has happened since he graduated from college and all the change he’s had to be involved in in his professional career and how one of the most important things we can learn is about change and how to be flexible,” Wood Cunningham said.
Carolyn Long, Tech president, will also address the graduates.
Saturday’s commencement ceremony starts at 10 a.m. at at the Neal D. Baisi Athletic Center Gymnasium in Montgomery. A live stream will be available at commencement.wvutech.edu.
Of the 180 Tech graduates, about 150 are expected to participate in the ceremony. Lineups begin at 8:30 a.m.
“We’re excited to celebrate and have this special day for our graduates and alumni who are returning and begin the next chapter of Tech.”