|
ONEONTA, N.Y. -- Thousands of parents, family members, alumni, and
friends will be on hand on Saturday, May 16, to honor the Class of 2009 at
the SUNY College at Oneonta's 120th Commencement. Honorary SUNY doctorates
will be presented to Major League Soccer Commissioner
Don Garber and Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Robert Olen Butler. Both
recipients will address the graduates as the Commencement speakers.
The College will offer two ceremonies in the Dewar Arena of the Alumni
Field House, one at 10 a.m. and one at noon. Depending on their major,
students will attend one of the ceremonies. Following each of the
ceremonies, the graduates and their guests will participate in one of
several divisional ceremonies, where the graduates will receive individual
diplomas and awards.
In all, 1,577 students are expected to be awarded degrees. Over 1,000
will participate in the annual ceremony, which will include graduates who
completed the requirements for bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and
certificates of advanced study in the summer or fall of 2008 or the spring
of 2009. At the ceremony, College
President Nancy Kleniewski
will offer the welcome and introduction of honored guests, and Patrick
Brown, Chair of the College Council, will greet the assembly.
President Kleniewski and Provost F. Daniel Larkin will present the SUNY
Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching to Associate Professor
Renee Walker
of the Department of
Anthropology and Assistant Professor
Brian Beitzel of the Department
of Educational
Psychology and Counseling.
Betty Winchester, secretary of the
Communication Arts
Department, will receive the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in
Classified Service.
President Kleniewski and Provost Larkin will confer the degrees on
graduates. Patrick Brown will join President Kleniewski in presenting
honorary SUNY doctorates to Don Garber and Robert Olen Butler. Upon receipt
of their honorary degrees, they will each offer an address to the graduates.
Senior class President Sarah Cascone will present remarks, as will
Student
Association President Dean McGowan.
Karen
Brown, Vice President of the Alumni Association, will greet the
College's newest alumni.
Music for the ceremonies will be provided by the Catskill Brass under the
direction of Professor Carleton Clay. Selections will include the premier
performance of "Recessional, Oneonta, 2009," an original piece composed by
Professor Clay and dedicated to Alexandra Kraus and her fellow graduates of
the Class of 2009.
The Mohawk Valley Frasers will provide bagpipe music for the
processional. Vocalist Joshua Rothberg of the Class of 2009 will lead the
audience in singing the national anthem and the alma mater. SUNY
Distinguished Teaching Professor
Douglas
Shrader of the
Philosophy Department will serve as the mace bearer.
|
