The Autumn commencement speaker, former Columbus Mayor Greg Lashutka, gave words of wisdom and advice to graduates during the Dec. 10 ceremony.”Invest in the human family. Invest in people. Build a community of those you love and who love you,” Lashutka advised. About 1,600 graduates and their families and friends attended the ceremony at St. John Arena. Though the morning was cold and rainy for those graduating students, the ceremony was a welcome reward for years of hard work and sacrifice. Jane West, who earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics, was acknowledged during the ceremony for earning a 3.98 GPA, one of the highest among the graduates. West praised the university faculty and the love and support of her husband and 11-year-old daughter for her academic success. “The ceremony was very uplifting and when we came out the rain had stopped and the weather was nice. My whole experience at OSU was very positive and the ceremony was a very nice way to cap off my experience. I had a lot of good instructors, I felt they all really cared that I was learning.” During his commencement address Lashutka stressed the importance of values and creating the right blend between the vision of a free market and a civil society. The former mayor, also an OSU alumnus and football player under Woody Hayes, ended his address with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson frequently used by Hayes. “You can pay back only seldom, but you can always pay forward, and you must pay line for line, deed for deed and cent for cent.”Lashutka said the quote meant that you may never be able to fully repay or thank the people who make a difference in your life, such as professors, family and friends. “But you can pay forward, investing in people, in communities and in this great country, independently of what they have done for you.”