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NY Attorney General
Eliot Spitzer
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Senator Charles Schumer
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Adelphi University's 107th Commencement:
The Class of 2003
Garden City, NY
May 19, 2003
Adelphi University's 107th Commencement, the Class of 2003, was held yesterday at the Garden City, NY, campus with over 2500 graduates from the liberal arts institution's seven schools and colleges: the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Social Work, School of Nursing, Derner Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies, School of Business, University College, and School of Education.
With guests seated, and students robed and assembled, the day's events got underway at 9:30 AM, with an academic procession that included Adelphi University President Dr. Robert A. Scott, members of the Board of Trustees, honorees, University Provost Marcia Grosse Welsh, and faculty sponsors. The commencement exercises took place at 10:00 AM , and the program included the conferring of honorary degrees upon three notable guests: Eliot Spitzer, New York's 63rd Attorney General, Carmen de Lavallade, and Donald Everett Axinn. Sen. Charles Schumer, who received an honorary degree from Adelphi in 2000, attended and addressed the graduates. The message of his address was: Don't be afraid of risk, and go for what you want in life, a theme that resonated with all of the subsequent speakers.
Steven Fischer, Chairman of the Adelphi University Board of Trustees, addressed the students and their families with words of congratulations, and noted that the Class of 2003 hailed from 34 states, and 64 countries. The Honorable Barbara K. Miller, Mayor of the Village of Garden City, drew attention to the "magnificent suburban campus," seen in full bloom on a bright Sunday morning, and quoted Eleanor Roosevelt from when she opened Alumnae and Harvey Halls.
During the ceremony, President Scott presented three honorary degrees. Assisted by Trustee Kenneth McClane and Chair of English, Jennifer Fleischner, the President presented an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters to Donald Everett Axinn. The President, assisted by Trustee Leon Pollack with Chair of Performing Arts Nicholas Petron, then presented an honorary Doctorate of Arts to Carmen de Lavallade, described by Petron as a true "Renaissance artist."
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was the keynote speaker. Mr. Spitzer received an Honorary Doctorate in Law from President Scott, assisted by Trustee Jeh Johnson and Professor Samuel Natale, in recognition of his prosecutions of sophisticated white-collar crimes that have resulted in some of the nation's largest fraud recoveries. His investigations of conflicts of interest on Wall Street have provided the catalyst for dramatic reform in the nation's financial services industry and thus, in his remarks to the Class of 2003, Attorney General Spitzer used those Wall Street scandals as a cautionary tale in warning graduating seniors to be wary of the notion of "business as usual."
"There will be a long period in which you have to put your head down and work hard to establish yourself." But there will come a time, he said, "when your ethics will be tested. ... How will you respond?"
Adelphi University Student Government Association president, Matthew Garofalo, represented his 2001 classmates in bidding farewell to the college while looking ahead to being "masters of our own future." Royce D'Orazio, President, Class of 2003, advised students not to fear change and presented a plaque to Dr. Scott from the recent Senior Pledge Drive, while Donna Banek '91, President of the Alumni Association, concluded the program by reminding the exuberant graduates of the successes achieved by the 80,000-plus alumni who had emerged with their diplomas from that same Stiles Field.
Adelphi University has had a tradition of recognizing the administration and faculty as an important part of commencement, and as deserving as their students of an end-of-year fête. To that end, Dr. Scott revived the University's annual picnic a few years ago and, Monday, May 19, joined faculty and staff to enjoy a relaxed afternoon of dining and dancing, also acknowledging Ruth S. Harley - a former Dean of Women and University Registrar for whom the University Center is named - who is celebrating her 101st birthday.
About Adelphi University: Adelphi University, chartered in 1896, was the first institution of higher education for the liberal arts and sciences on Long Island. Through its schools and programs—The College of Arts and Sciences, the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, the Honors College, ABLE Program, and the Schools of Business, Education, Nursing and Social Work—the co-educational university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional and educational programs for adults. Adelphi University currently enrolls over 7,700 students from 44 states and 60 foreign countries. With its main campus in Garden City and centers in Manhattan, Hauppauge, and Poughkeepsie, the University maintains a commitment to liberal studies in tandem with rigorous professional preparation and active citizenship.
Media Contact
For additional information, please contact:
Lori Duggan Gold
Vice President for Communications
p - 516.877.3693
f - 516.877.3266
e - duggangold@adelphi.edu
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