Grand Valley State University celebrated its 100,000th graduate on Saturday, April 25.

GVSU awarded the student with a $1,000 check and other prizes.

No one was more surprised to be named the 100,000th student to graduate from Grand Valley State University than the graduate himself, Dale Boedeker.

The milestone was celebrated at the university’s afternoon commencement ceremony at Van Andel Arena on Saturday as over 3,000 students walked across the stage during the ceremonies.

“I couldn’t believe it at first; I was in shock,” said Boedeker, a native of the state of Wyoming. “I was waiting for someone to say ‘just kidding, you’re being punked,’ but it was real!”

Family members, including ones who traveled from Wyoming, celebrated with Boedeker after the ceremony when he was presented with a $1,000 check and gear from the Grand Valley Alumni Association.

As a health communications major and advertising and public relations minor, Boedeker said he plans to remain in Grand Rapids and work for a hospital or health care system.

Diane Paton, a 1967 alumna and Grand Valley’s first accepted student, was a part of the celebration.

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