First Isu Students To Receive Bachelor S Of Idaho State Journal

Alistair Lowe

-Apr 6, 2026, 1:18 AM

first isu students to receive bachelor s of idaho state journal

POCATELLO — Over 1,000 graduates are set to receive their diplomas Saturday as Idaho State University holds its spring graduation for the 2024-25 year. Two graduation ceremonies will be held on Saturday at the ICCU Dome. The first ceremony will start at 10 a.m. and will be for students in the colleges of Arts and Letters, Business and Science and Engineering. The second ceremony will be at 2 p.m. for the students in the Colleges of Health, Pharmacy, Education and Technology.

Among the students who are graduating this semester is 72-year-old Holger Nickel, who will be receiving a master’s degree in history after completing his bachelor’s in history back in 2022. Nickel is originally from Germany, but he has been living in Idaho since 1982, according to an ISU news release. He was the director of tennis for Apple Athletic Club in Idaho Falls for 30 years. He started taking classes at ISU after hearing about a reduced tuition program from his daughter.

While he was earning his master’s degree, Nickel was offered a graduate teaching assistant position that allowed him to assist the professor in ways that were meaningful for him, the ISU press release said. “He chose to help by identifying fellow students who were falling behind ... and reached out to them to see if they needed help, connecting several students with resources to help them through,” the news release said.

“Again, with encouragement from ISU faculty, he also ended up teaching an entire class after a professor was unable to complete it.”{!--EndFragment--} Once he graduates, Nickel may pursue a PhD in history. He said in the news release that he enjoyed his years studying at ISU. “I love it, I cannot say enough good things about the faculty and staff in the history department at ISU,” Nickel said.

“You can feel when you are around them that they are there to help you.” Another student who is about to graduate is Josh Govan, who will be graduating with a bachelor’s in university studies. He is also one class away from a certification in human resources. Govan started at ISU right after high school, but he fell off track after he began to struggle with mental health issues, and his family was going through some challenges as well.

“My dad went to prison and I had to help my mom. My brother has autism so there was a struggle with that,” Govan said in an ISU news release. “I failed two of the classes I needed to graduate. I had to pay out-of-pocket. I couldn’t keep my student job at the library. I had to get a full-time job.” Govan started working full-time at Goodwill, which helped him get back on track and he discovered his passion for Human Resources.

Tate Christensen, advising coordinator for the College of Arts and Letters also reached out to tell him about the Resiliency Scholarship. “Tate worked with me to split this into two semesters so I could keep my full-time job at Goodwill and finish the last semester of the classes I needed,” Govan said in the news release. Govan expressed gratitude for Christensen in the news release for all the help he gave him during his time at ISU.

“Even without the scholarship, Tate himself has been a big help with getting everything ready,” Govan said in the news release. “The pressure of maintaining B’s for the scholarship helped me focus more on school than I have in the past.” Once he graduates, Govan plans to move to Salt Lake City. His brother, who has autism, has earned his GED and plans to attend ISU in the fall. “I think this shows that ISU cares,” Govan said in the news release.

“I have friends who go to other schools and they don’t know anything about these kinds of scholarships. ISU is willing to help those who struggle. ISU does care.” According to a news release from ISU, seven of the students who are graduating this semester will be the first to receive a bachelor’s degree in software engineering. ISU first started offering this degree in the fall of 2024. Steve Chiu, chair of the computer science department, offered his congratulations to these students in the news release.

“With artificial intelligence playing an impactful role in the future, these freshly minted software engineers will help create intelligent, secure and quality software in various domains,” he said. One of the students who will graduate with this degree is Teo Hanson, who received a bachelor’s in communication with a minors in computer science and visual media in 2024. He stayed to continue his education in this program. “It’s a fascinating field since software is intertwined with nearly every aspect of our lives now,” Hanson said in the news release.

“No matter what you’re doing or where you are, you’re probably interacting with a piece of software or a computer system.” The highlight of Hanson’s experience at ISU was getting to work with all the different professors who helped him learn so much. ”In any of the disciplines I’ve studied, the faculty has been incredibly dedicated to giving students the materials and information they need to succeed,” Hanson said in the news release. (0) comments Welcome to the discussion. Log In

First Isu Students To Receive Bachelor S Of Idaho State Journal

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