Commencement and Baccalaureate Ceremonies to Honor MMC Students

Baccalaureate Ceremony
At this year’s Baccalaureate ceremony, Marymount Manhattan College will be presenting this year’s graduates with their hoods, which are to be worn at Commencement. The ceremony is an important part of the conferring of degrees for the entire MMC community and offers an opportunity for students to reflect on their experience at the college.

Date: May 16
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Church of St. Paul the Apostle

Commencement
MMC’s Commencement is the culmination of a student’s undergraduate years. This year’s ceremony will feature addresses by President Judson R. Shaver, Valedictorian Brian Letchworth ’08 and Senior Class Speaker Aaron Abergel ’08. This year’s honorary degree recipients are Elaine Pagels, Theresa Lang ’97 and Mary Anne Schwalbe. Over 400 students will graduate at the ceremony.

Date: May 16
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall

Honorary Degrees
Marymount Manhattan College is pleased to announce the recipients of honorary degrees, which will be awarded at the 2008 Commencement ceremony at 2:30 p.m. on May 16 at Avery Fischer Hall in the Lincoln Center. This year’s honorary degree recipients are Elaine Pagels, Theresa Lang ’97 and Mary Anne Schwalbe.

Elaine Pagels
Elaine Pagels will be presented with a Doctorate of Humane Letters. Dr. Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Foundation Professor of Religion at Princeton University, appointed in 1982. She is an author, scholar, historian and educator specializing in early Christianity. Her book Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas was on the New York Times bestseller list for over three months and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She won the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award for The Gnostic Gospels and also wrote The Origin of Satan and Adam, Eve and the Serpent. Dr. Pagels attended Stanford University where she graduated with a major in history. She later earned a graduate degree in religious studies from Harvard University. Dr. Pagels has studied Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, Italian, German and the ancient African Coptic language in order to translate, read and study Christian texts. Through her work, Dr. Pagels has enabled a new understanding of the history of Christianity and made obscure ancient texts accessible to the public. She has taught at Columbia University and Barnard College and studied dance with the Martha Graham Company in New York City.

Theresa Lang ‘97
Theresa Lang ’97 will be presented with a Doctorate of Fine Arts. Mrs. Lang graduated from Marymount Manhattan College as a returning student in 1997. The Theresa Lang Theatre, the Theresa Lang Center for Producing and the Theresa Lang Scholarship Fund, which supports students who demonstrate academic merit and are involved with community service, have all been made possible by her generosity to the College. Mrs. Lang served on the Board of Trustees for MMC for almost 10 years. Mrs. Lang has been a volunteer, board member and committee leader at several New York hospitals including the New York Hospital Medical Center, United Hospital Fund of New York, Queens General Hospital and the Lenox Hill Hospital. Outside of Marymount Manhattan, Mrs. Lang has devoted herself as a trustee to other deserving causes, including the Eugene M. Lang Foundation, the New York City Opera and the Hunter College Foundation. She has been recognized for her supportive involvement with other higher education institutions, including Swarthmore College, the New School for Social Research, Rockefeller University, Barnard College and Hunter College.

Mary Anne Schwalbe
Mary Anne Schwalbe will be presented with a Doctorate of Laws. Schwalbe is a former trustee of Marymount Manhattan and a committed advocate for refugee women and children. Through the Mary Anne Schwalbe Scholarship Fund, she supports refugee and international students at MMC. Mrs. Schwalbe is the founding director emerita of the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children.

Mrs. Schwalbe graduated from Radcliffe College and then the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She taught theater at Barnard College and worked as a production assistant for Irene Mayer Selznick Productions, The Playwrights Company and Frederick Brisson Productions. She served as Director of American Auditions for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and was Associate Director of the Theatre Communication Group.

Mrs. Schwalbe also served in higher education as Director of Admissions at Radcliffe College. She then served as Director of Harvard/Radcliffe Undergraduate Admissions and became the first woman President of the Harvard Faculty Club. She returned to New York as the Director of College Counseling at The Dalton School and then as the Head of the Upper School at The Nightingale-Bamford School. She received the Frances Riker Davis Award for Community Service at The Brearley School, the Harvard University Alumni Award, the New York State Association of College Admissions Counselors Award and the NACAC Gayle C. Wilson Award.

Published: May 02, 2008