WVU Parkersburg Spring Commencement to be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 16, 2009.

CONTACT:   Leslie Sims, college registrar, 304-424-8220.
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

West Virginia University at Parkersburg's 38th annual Commencement exercises will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 16, in the College Activities Center.

The Class of 2009  includes over 280 candidates for graduation who will receive approximately 360 degrees and certificates.

Commencement speaker will be Bray Cary, president and chief executive officer of West Virginia Media.

WVU Parkersburg President Marie Foster Gnage will preside over the ceremony.  A reception for all of the graduates and their families will follow the Commencement exercises in the cafeteria concourse.

Cary received his bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s degree in public administration from West Virginia University.  As a college student, Cary worked in WVU’s Office of Intercollegiate Athletics and developed an interest in college sports and the media.  After leaving WVU he worked for the Sun Belt Conference.  That experience in collegiate athletics management led him to found Creative Sports in Charlotte, NC.   Creative Sports specialized in syndicating televised college football and basketball games. The company became the largest business of its kind in the nation.  He sold Creative Sports to ESPN in 1994.

After serving as an ESPN consultant for several years, he joined NASCAR in 1998 as vice president of broadcasting and technology and helped consolidate all television rights to NASCAR races.

Returning to West Virginia in 2001, he assembled a group of investors and acquired six state television stations and the weekly State Journal, a statewide business and leadership publication.  West Virginia Media owns and manages WBOY-TV in Clarksburg; WOWK-TV in Charleston/Huntington; WTRF-TV and Fox Ohio Valley in Wheeling; and WVNS-TV and Fox West Virginia in Beckley-Bluefield.  Cary also serves as host for “Decision Makers,” a statewide public affairs television program. 

On Friday (May 15), Nursing candidates for graduation will participate in the college's annual Pinning ceremonies at 7 p.m. in the College Activities Center.  Featured speaker will be Diana Topjian, vice president of patient care at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital.  A reception will follow the ceremony.

cd05/5/09