Zach Betscher couldn’t attend his graduation ceremony at the University of Akron because of an emergency appendectomy.
So the school brought the pomp and circumstance to him.
UA surprised Betscher, 22, with a commencement ceremony in his hospital room Thursday morning at Akron General Medical Center.
Surrounded by his parents, Phi Delta Theta fraternity brothers and UA administrators dressed in caps and gowns, Betscher received his diploma while still hooked up to an IV from College of Business Administration Dean Ravi Krovi.
He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Krovi even served as keynote speaker for the ceremony for one. There also was the traditional gifts and cake.
“It was really cool,” Betscher said Friday from his home, where he’s still recovering. “It was definitely memorable.”
He was caught off guard by the ceremony. Friends and others started streaming into his room.
“I was just kind of sitting there,” he recalled. “I had no idea what was happening.”
Betscher was scheduled to take part in the formal graduation ceremony Friday at the school — and he was looking forward to walking across the stage at E.J. Thomas Hall.
But earlier in the week, he started to feel a pain in his side. He ended up at Akron General on Tuesday and had emergency surgery on Wednesday morning to remove his appendix.
The doctors told Betscher, who lives in Lexington, Ohio, that he wouldn’t be able to attend his graduation.
“We kept asking the doctors how long the recovery would take,” he said, because he didn’t want to miss out on the formal ceremony.
That’s when his girlfriend, Stephanie Weber, and her father, UA Police Chief Jim Weber, reached out to the school to see if anything special could be arranged.
Lauri Thorpe, UA associate vice president for enrollment management, hatched the plan to hold the ceremony at the hospital.
As far as anybody knows, it’s the first hospital graduation for UA — and also a first for Akron General, which is used to the occasional wedding.
“I was so excited to find out that the University of Akron and Cleveland Clinic Akron General made this happen on such short notice,” Akron General spokeswoman Stephanie York said. “It truly made me appreciate how wonderful and caring people can be to one another.”
Betscher said he had a great experience attending UA — and now an unforgettable graduation.
“It was cool to be able to graduate that way,” he said.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ.