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Two McGoverns Take Stage at YSU Commencement
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- When it comes time for speeches at Youngstown State University's fall commencement Dec. 12, it will be a Boardman family affair. Maureen McGovern, the Academy Award-winning singer and Boardman native, will receive an honorary doctor of music degree and give the commencement address.Mollie McGovern, producer of "WFMJ Today" and a Boardman native, will receive a master's degree in business administration and will be the student speaker for the ceremony.Maureen and Mollie, who are second cousins once removed, will be among about 650 students receiving degrees at the ceremony 2 p.m. in Beeghly Center on the YSU campus."It was serendipitous," Pam Palumbo, associate director of events management, said about the McGovern duo taking center stage at commencement. "When Business Administration Dean Betty Jo Licata chose Mollie to be the student commencement speaker, she did not know that Maureen was going to speak as well."Mollie said she looks forward to sharing the spotlight with her namesake. "Since Maureen and I both graduated from Boardman High School, people always asked me over the years if we are related, and we are," Mollie said. Michael McGovern, a Youngstown steelworker and poet in the late 19th century, is Maureen's great grandfather and Mollie's great, great grandfather, which makes them second cousins once removed. Michael McGovern worked in the steel mills as a puddler, which involved converting pig iron to wrought iron by oxidizing the carbon. He also was a poet, designating himself The Puddler Poet and publishing a book of poems in 1899 titled Labor Lyrics and Other Poems. Michael McGovern is featured in a display at the Youngstown Labor and Industry Museum. "Maureen and I had the chance to meet in 2000 when she sang at the opening concert for the Boardman High School auditorium," Mollie said. "At that time, I gave her a copy of that book."Maureen McGovern will do double-duty during her visit to the Mahoning Valley. In addition to her appearance at commencement, she will perform a concert at Stambaugh Auditorium Dec. 13 to benefit YSU's Dana School of Music and the Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic in Youngstown.McGovern is currently playing the role of Marmee in the play, "Little Women, The Musical." The preview of the musical opens on Broadway today, with the opening scheduled for Jan. 20. McGovern may be best known for singing "The Morning After" from the film "The Poseidon Adventure." The song was number one on the charts, won the Academy Award and was a gold record. Mollie McGovern was a University Scholar, a student member of the YSU Board of Trustees and received the Dean's Quest Award for outstanding student research while an undergraduate student at YSU. She graduated summa cum laude in May 2002 with a dual undergraduate degree in telecommunications and geography. She has been the 6 a.m. producer of the WFMJ Today morning show throughout her graduate studies. Visit Youngstown State University: www.ysu.edu"