{"id":61719,"date":"2015-05-12T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-12T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=61719"},"modified":"2015-05-11T17:26:06","modified_gmt":"2015-05-11T21:26:06","slug":"morrisville-state-hosts-104th-commencement-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=61719","title":{"rendered":"Morrisville State hosts 104th Commencement Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Selfie\"<\/a>Aaron Pulaski of Burnt Hills and Amber Manwarren of Smyrna, take a selfie prior to Morrisville State College\u2019s commencement ceremony, which was held\u00a0on Saturday. \u00a0Both graduated from the college\u2019s massage therapy program.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Ithaca Mayor Svante L. Myrick addresses graduates during\u00a0Morrisville State College\u2019s commencement ceremony. \u00a0(Photos by Franci Valenzano, public relations associate).\"Ithaca<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>The procession begins\u2014Morrisville State College\u2019s commencement ceremony, which was held\u00a0on Saturday. (Photo by Paul Kearney).<\/em><\/p>\n

\"MSC_Commencement\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0By Franci Valenzano, public relations associate<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Morrisville, NY \u2013 May 2015) A sea of green decorated the Morrisville State College recreation center during the college\u2019s 104th commencement exercises held\u00a0on Saturday May 9.<\/p>\n

Graduates donned green caps and gowns and celebrated alongside family and friends amid a stage adorned with a lavish display of flowers, grown by students in the college\u2019s horticulture program and arranged by graduating seniors from the program.<\/p>\n

Dr. William Murabito, interim president, was joined by Dr. David Rogers, provost and chief information officer, school deans and members of the college council in presiding over the ceremony which began with a 20-piece Scottish bagpipe band leading graduates into the formal commencement exercises.<\/p>\n

Student Government Organization (SGO) president Vanessa Connally addressed fellow classmates during the ceremony. \u201cMorrisville has taught me that college isn\u2019t just about what you know. It\u2019s also about who you know. Everyone you\u2019ve met and will meet, will impact your life,\u201d she said. \u201cMorrisville has given us everything we need, teachers who will always serve as mentors, skills and confidence in the job market and the art of making anything possible. Go out there and do it with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ithaca Mayor Svante L. Myrick, one of the\u00a0youngest mayors in US history, praised graduates. \u201cYou are our world leaders already. There isn\u2019t anything else anyone here can teach you about making a success of yourself. You have a world in front of you and the keys to be successful in whatever you want to do. The question is, what do you want to do? What don\u2019t you?\u201d Myrick asked.<\/p>\n

He advised graduates not to get caught up in living their lives posting what they want others to see on Facebook and Instagram, something indicative of their generation, the \u201cus millennials, the selfie generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many of you have done something just for the pictures that you could post online? There is a sense that your life must be pleasing or impressive to other people. As you choose friends and careers and life partners, you will be tempted to find those that look good to the outside world, but don\u2019t make you happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will face moments when you lose people close to you in your life, when doors that were open will close in your face, and you will face hardship. When the days are long and the nights are dark, the likes on your Instagram page and the approval of others, is not what will keep you warm. The memories you build yourself, the good deeds that are intrinsically rewarding, that you helped folks not because it looked good, but because it felt good\u2014that is the life you deserve. When those days get long and those nights get dark, you will be glad that you did not live a life worth \u2018liking…\u2019you lived a life worth loving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Myrick also urged graduates not to erase the mistakes they have made and will make in life. \u201cDon\u2019t wipe them away. Cross them out and acknowledge them, but leave them there so you can learn from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the ceremony, the college honored\u00a0renowned cardiovascular and thoracic transplant surgeon, Dr. Alfred (Cy) J. Tector, Class of \u201953, for his commitment to education and excellence, with an honorary Doctor of Science degree,\u00a0(Sc.D).<\/p>\n

Other awards noted during the ceremony were:<\/p>\n

Philip Hoffman, of Munnsville, assistant professor of Renewable Energy was recognized for receiving the SUNY Chancellor\u2019s Award for Excellence in Teaching.<\/p>\n

Brian Tefft, of Norwich, computer services technician and library assistant at the Norwich Campus received the SUNY Chancellor\u2019s Award for Excellence in Professional Service.<\/p>\n

Timothy W. Gerken, of Garrattsville, associate professor of humanities, received the SUNY Chancellor\u2019s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service.<\/p>\n

Mark P. Lewis, of Madison, wastewater treatment plant operator, received the SUNY Chancellor\u2019s Award for Excellence in Classified Service.<\/p>\n

Susan M. Hoffmann, of Cazenovia, adjunct instructor of office administration, received the SUNY Chancellor\u2019s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching<\/p>\n

Roberta Sloan, of Utica, received the Morrisville State College Distinguished Faculty Award.<\/p>\n

Graduating students Shannon Greene, of Sauquoit, a horticulture greenhouse production associate degree major and Gilroy Alvarez, of the Bronx,\u00a0a business administration bachelor degree major, were recognized for winning the SUNY Chancellor\u2019s Award for Student Excellence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aaron Pulaski of Burnt Hills and Amber Manwarren of Smyrna, take a selfie prior to Morrisville State College\u2019s commencement ceremony, which was held\u00a0on Saturday. \u00a0Both graduated from the college\u2019s massage therapy program. \u00a0Ithaca Mayor Svante L. Myrick addresses graduates during\u00a0Morrisville State College\u2019s commencement ceremony. \u00a0(Photos by Franci Valenzano, public relations associate). \u00a0The procession begins\u2014Morrisville State […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/61720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}