Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 5-13-16 Online Edition

Feature
USF’s First African American Graduate Honored At 2016 Commencement
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
Dr. Ernest Boger, a Tampa native who was USF’s first African American grad- uate in 1965, received the President’s Fellow Medallion during the 1:30 p. m. com- mencement ceremony on Friday, May 6. USF’s Presi- dent, Dr. Judy Genshaft, bestowed the medallion on him.
Dr. Boger’s work within the hospitality and tourism industry is highly decorated, including recognition by the American Hotel & Lodging Association as Certified Hotel Administrator Emeri- tus. The honor is the pinna- cle of recognition for lifetime hotel industry professional- ism and is held by less than 25 individuals worldwide. Dr. Boger is the only African American to hold the distinction.
He currently works as the chairman and an associate professor in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the Univer- sity of Maryland Eastern
DR. ERNEST BOGER
Shore. He has held various operational and academic positions in the hospitality industry over the past 41 years. He was named Head of the Department of Hospi- tality Management in the School of Business at Bethune-Cookman in 1989.
Dr. Boger told Bay News 9 USF deserves a lot of the credit for his success.
“It's not so important to recognize me as a person who opened the door, but me as the first person who
walked through the open door, because USF had an open door,” said Boger. “Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, they had closed doors.”
While attending USF, Boger majored in psychol- ogy with a minor in Russian and music. He later went on to other schools to earn his master's and doctorate de- grees.
A 1961 graduate of Howard W. Blake High School and Valedictorian of the class, he was a student conductor for the Marching Yellow Jackets, Jacqueline N. Cotman, first girl stu- dent conductor and drum major at Blake, recalls.
“We need to help the kids with as much positive feedback as possible in the community,!” she stated, referring to the honor bestowed on Dr. Boger.
Dr. Boger now serves as chairman of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Maryland East- ern Shore.
Dr. Boger, 72, served as
At the commencement ceremony last Friday: L-R: USF Provost and Executive Vice President Ralph Wilcox, USF Board of Trustees member Scott Hopes, Dr. Boger, and USF System President Judy Genshaft. (Photo courtesy of University of South Florida)
a military officer during the Vietnam era. He is married to the former Carmel Brown of Kingston, Ja- maica, West Indies.
Locally, he is the brother of Wilbert Malphus, Eliz- abeth Boger-Booker, and
the late Earnestine Boger. He calls Bishop Adam Jef- ferson Richardson, Jr., Presiding Prelate of the 11th Episcopal District of the AME Church, his closest friend; and Atty. Arthenia Joyner his trusting friend.
FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 9-A