OLIVET, Mich. Olivet College students, faculty and staff will commemorate the colleges 161st year during Founders Day activities Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Activities begin at 11:45 a.m. with prayer and reflection in the Kirk Center lobby; participants will then proceed to the gravesite of Father John J. Shipherd, the founder of Olivet, for a wreath laying ceremony.

At 1:30 p.m., President Don Tuski, Ph.D., will make opening remarks in the Olivet Congregational Church. Former Judge William F. Bledsoe, a 1952 Olivet graduate and Board of Trustee member, will give the keynote address about his experiences at Olivet College.

Bledsoe earned a law degree from Wayne State University in 1955. After being admitted to the Michigan Bar, he served in private practice. Bledsoe joined the Michigan attorney generals office in 1965 as the assistant attorney general-in-charge of the civil right-civil liberties division, and served in this capacity to January 1974. He also served as a judge in the Michigan 30th District from 1985 to 2003.

Bledsoe has served on a number of boards and commissions including the Highland Park Community College Foundation, Highland Park Chamber of Commerce, Highland Park Historic District Association and the Meadowbrook Festival and Theatre Committee.

For more information, call (269) 749-7164.

« Back