SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — A San Diego State University graduate received his diploma on Thursday - 83 years after graduating. 105-year-old Bill Vogt finished college in 1935 but never received a printed diploma.
Bill is the last living SDSU student to have attended classes at the old campus in University Heights and the school's oldest alumnus.
At a special ceremony, Bill finally got his proof that he did graduate. He received a diploma retro-dated to Feb. 1, 1935, at an event held in the foyer of SDSU's Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center.
Bill Vogt's new diploma (Photo courtesy of San Diego State University)
SDSU President Adela de la Torre presented Bill with his diploma, which lists his area of study as "commerce."
The presentation came months after Vogt became a lifetime member of SDSU Alumni. He is also believed the oldest person ever to become an SDSU Alumni lifetime member, which occurred in May, according to the school.
According to SDSU officials, Bill was among the first students to set foot on the current SDSU campus after it opened in 1931. After graduating in 1935, Vogt served in the United States Navy during the World War II, Korea and Vietnam wars.
SDSU began in 1897 as the San Diego Normal school, according to the school’s website. The school’s first permanent location was establishing on Normal Street in University Heights in 1902 and moved to its present site in 1931.
See below for vintage pictures of Bill and the SDSU campuses:
Bill Vogt’s yearbook photo (Courtesy of SDSU)
Aerial view of the Park Boulevard campus, 1918
(Photo courtesy San Diego State University, Dept. of Special Collections)
Full view of the exterior of the San Diego Normal School main building and grounds located in University Heights.
(Photo courtesy San Diego State University, Dept. of Special Collections)
Hardy Tower and the San Diego State Teachers' College campus, as seen from the north in 1931.
(Photo courtesy San Diego State University, Dept. of Special Collections)