Master’s and Bachelor’s Graduates Each Enjoy Their Own Commencement
“Revel in your accomplishments and enjoy this beautiful day,” said the Honorable Barbara Gardner, ’82, chair of the board of trustees, addressing master’s graduates at FSC’s first-ever graduate commencement Sunday, May 25.
“All of you sitting here today hold in your hands the ticket to your future,” the speaker at the graduate commencement, Chancellor Patricia Plummer,’69, told the graduate students. Plummer is a former FSC faculty member and associate academic vice president.
Three undergraduate history majors, Saigayan Kugabalasooriar, Katherine Jillette, and Sean Holt here reflect the happiness of students at both ceremonies. Click for a slideshow of the day’s events.
At the undergraduate commencement the speaker, Mr. Robert Maresca, president of the Bose Corporation, told the graduating class their “people education” was just beginning. What is now important, he said, “is the ability to get on with people and have them respect your input.”
Dr. Marguerite Mahler of the Modern Languages Department was named the Distinguished Faculty Member for 2008. “She is an excellent representative of a faculty who care about their students,” said Academic Vice President Robert Martin in presenting her.
Maresca was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree and Dr. Philip Dooher, former vice president for enrollment management, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.
The 2008 valedictorian was Emma Abby, a geography major with a concentration in environmental studies who was the 2007-08 president of the Green Team. Next year she will study in the master’s program at the Center for Sustainability Studies at Lund University in Sweden.
The part-time student with the highest academic achievement was June B. Hudnall, a fashion design and retailing major.
Six hundred and eighteen bachelor’s degrees were awarded and four hundred and sixty one master’s degrees.