In honor of Philura Gould Baldwin, the granddaughter of Baldwin Wallace’s founder, John Baldwin, the annual tradition of the White Rose Ceremony will be held on  May 7, to recognize graduating women who have made a difference in the BW community. 

During Philura Baldwin’s undergraduate years at Baldwin Wallace, she established the first library at BW and chose the traditional colors of brown and gold. The White Rose Ceremony will take place on the day of Commencement celebrates 26 select female graduates who will each carry a white rose—a rose for each year of Philura Baldwin’s life—to commemorate her life before she died of tuberculosis.  

Julie Robinson, associate director for employer relations, was a part of this year’s White Rose Ceremony Committee, which is a group made up of BW women faculty members that review nominations for women who have made an impact at BW. 

“The award is to recognize woman-identifying students who have contributed to the [BW] community in a substantial way,” Robinson said. 

For Mackenzie Harnish, coordinator for the Center for Global Exploration and White Rose Committee member, selecting the recipients for this award was a difficult task.  

“We wanted to make it a more diverse pool of women coming from all different areas of campus. Whether they made a difference in the academic side of BW, through leadership, community service, or being involved,” said Harnish. “Every student who was nominated certainly had amazing credentials in being a part of the ceremony and it really made it difficult and took a lot of time to distinguish who we were going to pick.” 

Robinson, a 2001 white rose recipient, believes in the significance of having a ceremony that honors BW women and the memory of Philura Baldwin. 

“I think it’s a really nice tradition” Robinson said. “I worked really hard through college and tried to help make BW a better place so to have that recognized was really special for me.”