OWL
Summer | 13
Sweet Treats for Grads!
a news supplement for alumni and friends of Southern Connecticut State University
Dear Friends of Southern, Our vibrant May commencement ceremonies summed up an academic year full of high points for our university. The ceremonies were both poignant — with posthumous honors awarded to four graduate school alumni who died in the 2012 Newtown, Conn., shootings — and joyous, with the distribution of diplomas and ice cream at the undergraduate commencement making for a festive mix. Tom Murray of the Class of ’63 who marked the 50th anniversary of his graduation on commencement day, wrote to me how the ceremonies were: “special for my classmates and me. We experienced much of the joy we knew in May of 1963 when we completed our undergraduate studies. How proud I was to observe the great growth that has taken place at Southern during the past 50 years!” Tom and his fellow alums will be pleased to know that this growth is poised to continue, with the start of construction this summer on a 98,000-square-foot science building, home to cutting-edge programs in nanotechnology, applied physics, chemistry, and other fields. In this way, we will be supplying more qualified graduates for in-demand fields. And, with 85 percent of our annual graduating class remaining to live and work in the state, an investment in public higher education is clearly an investment in Connecticut’s future.
Mary A. Papazian, Ph.D. President
T
he celebration started early for members of the Class of 2013, who received their diplomas and cups of Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream — the latter presented by company co-founder Jerry Greenfield, who also delivered the commencement address. “There is a spiritual aspect to business. Just as you give, you receive,” Greenfield told the students at the ceremony, which was held on May 17 at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn. A total of 1,860 students earned their undergraduate degrees, with some 1,200 participating in the commencement ceremony. In 1978, Greenfield and his longtime friend and business partner, Ben Cohen, opened the first Ben & Jerry’s Homemade ice cream parlor in Burlington, Vt. With a focus on innovative flavors and a company commitment to social responsibility, they built the business into a $300 million ice cream empire.
For more on undergraduate commencement, including photos and stories on several inspiring graduates, go to SouthernCT.edu/news/ commencement2013.html
Graduate Commencement
HONORS HEROES OF SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY
O
n May 16, Southern recognized the over 960 students who earned advanced degrees at two graduate commencement exercises held at the Lyman Center for the Performing Arts. Students from the schools of Arts and Sciences, Business, and Health and Human Services participated in an afternoon ceremony. Graduates from the School of Education took part in an evening ceremony, during which the Distinguished Alumni Awards were presented posthumously to four educators who died in the Newtown shooting tragedy. The awards were presented in memory of principal Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, M.S. ’97, 6th Yr. ’98; teacher Anne Marie Murphy, M.S. ’08; school counselor Mary J. Sherlach, M.S. ’90, 6th Yr. ’92; and teacher and master’s degree student Victoria Soto.
continues