Marymount Manhattan College Commencement 2016
Marymount Manhattan College’s 67th Commencement Exercises were held on Thursday afternoon, May 26, 2016, at the iconic Lincoln Center. David Geffen Hall was buzzing with excitement as proud parents, grandparents, and friends of the College filled the auditorium.
This celebration of academic achievement was packed with heartfelt words, cheers of accomplishments, and much rejoicing as the Class of 2016 claimed their bachelor’s degrees and other special awards of distinction. The event also featured remarks from this year’s honorary degree recipients, and, in true Marymount Manhattan fashion, stellar performances.
The ceremony included performances of The Star-Spangled Banner and the Alma Mater by Musical Theatre Graduates, an invocation by Rabbi Philip Hiat, and remarks from Chairperson of the Board of Trustees Hope Knight ’85, President Kerry Walk, Valedictorian Joseph Maybloom, Senior Class Speaker Gennesys Grullon, and Honorary Degree Recipients Rabbi Philip Hiat and Louise Mirrer, Ph.D.
President Walk began her address by sizing up the Class of 2016, saying, “There are 350 students in the graduating class. Your average age is 22. The youngest among you is 20; the oldest, 65. You hail from 30 states and 22 different countries. The person from the farthest away came from Australia; the closest, from 225 East 72nd—across the street from the Nuge.”
She then went on to share some of her own experiences of self-discovery and discernment that led her on her path, and encouraged the graduates to relish the “in-betweenness” of their current place in life.
“I am aware that Commencement is the day on which more advice is given, and ignored, than on any other day of the year. Therefore, as you complete your transformation at the end of this ceremony from college student to college graduate, and as you join the larger community of educated persons, I have only wishes for you — three wishes, of course — that over the next few years, you are brave enough to have a dream; that you dare to take action—any action—in the direction of your dream; and that you have the courage to change your dream even as you yourself change and grow. Thomas Edison once said: ‘If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves….’ Members of the great Class of 2016, astound us all!”
Congratulations and best wishes to the Class of 2016!
Click here to view the 2016 Commencement Gallery,
or watch a video slideshow of the event.
Published: May 27, 2016
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