Reflecting on her time as an educator, Bowling Green State University President Carol Cartwright quoted Katharine Graham, former publisher of The Washington Post, who said loving one’s job and feeling that it matters is also a fun experience.

“I’ve not only had fun these past three years, I’ve been having a ball for 45 years, because I have a belief,” Cartwright said. “I have a passion for higher education, and I’ve been able to live that passion.”

Cartwright prepares to end her presidency June 30.

“I’m very proud of what we have accomplished, and I put the emphasis on the word ‘we,'” she added. “Together, we have mapped out the future of BGSU.”

John Harbal, chair of the 2008-09 Board of Trustees, expressed gratitude for Cartwright’s decision to stay three years.

“It would have been very easy for her to have walked away,” Harbal said. “Fortunately for us, she didn’t.”

Harbal led the program on the University Hall lawn that included speeches from Mayor John Quinn, trustee and retired Air Force Colonel John E. Moore and Representative Randy Gardner. The ceremony included music from Cartwright’s husband, Dr. Phillip Cartwright and his New Orleans Jazz Band, as well as the dedication of a tree commemorating Cartwright’s time at BGSU.

Cartwright sat on the stage beside every speaker in her wheelchair, recovering from an injury sustained during a trip to China earlier in the year, but stood up and waved to the guests when she was introduced.

“You are an amazing, engaged community of BGSU and BG, and you have made this an extraordinary experience for Phil and for me, and your presence here today makes this a very memorable day,” Cartwright said.

“It did take a special opportunity and a special place to coax me out of my first retirement,” she added.

Harbal recalled the initial process of installing Cartwright as president after Dr. Sidney Ribeau left for Howard University in Washington D.C. in 2008. He thanked the 2007-08 chair of the Board of Trustees, Michael Marsh, for putting together the subcommittee that brought Cartwright to the attention of the Board.

Cartwright initially wanted to stay for a year before resuming her retirement from Kent State University.

It was in December 2008 the idea of Cartwright staying another two years became a serious option when she told Harbal that two possible candidates for permanent presidents fell through and former provost Shirley Baugher resigned for personal reasons, leading Cartwright to stay for another two years. She had talked the issue over with her husband about what they were going to do.

“Phil Cartwright, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for saying ‘yes,'” Harbal said.

Local and state representatives also expressed their gratitude.

Quinn called Cartwright “an exemplary citizen of the city of Bowling Green” and proclaimed the date Dr. Carol Cartwright Day in the city.

Gardner presented a resolution passed by the Ohio House of Representatives, as well as a resolution sponsored by State Senator Mark Wagoner, to honor her service to BGSU.

Gardner took time to joke about the circumstances of his visit.

“Dr. Cartwright did say that I was not allowed to come today unless we had the budget fixed by June 24,” Gardner said. “It’s not.”

Harbal mentioned the recession’s effect on the state, nation and BGSU in 2008, and said that no construction was going on at the time, with the institution being in “very choppy waters.” He said that enrollment has turned around, construction is happening all over campus, and the University has received national recognition for being among the best colleges in the nation for the past two years.

Sklyer Rogers, the last speaker before Cartwright took the podium, completed a two-year term as the undergraduate student trustee, mentioned the construction as part of a “groundbreaking” presidential tenure.

He jokingly added that he offered to set Cartwright up with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts for her retirement, which Cartwright alluded to when she concluded her ceremonial address.

“We expect you to keep in touch, we’re going to be following you, maybe not on Facebook, but we look forward to hearing about everything that’s happening here at BGSU and coming back occasionally to see it firsthand,” Cartwright said. “Thank you all, and for now, farewell.”