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Sacred Sneart nMiiversitu Tweniy-O^inth Commencement Sunday Afternoon THE Twenty-First of May Nineteen Hundred Ninety-Five One O’clock ’ University Campus I n^oard of ^Trudees Chairman The Most Rev. Edward M. Egan, J.C.D. Vice-Chairman Robert J. Matura President Anthony J. Cernera, Ph.D. Secretary Robert L. Julianelle, J.D. Treasurer James J. Costello Angelica Urra Berrie Alumni Representative William J. Conaty to the Board A. Joan Connor Betty S. Lynch ’74 Victor R. Coudert, Jr. Michael Daley Life Trustee Fred C. Frassinelli, Jr. The Most Rev. Walter W. Curtis, Rev. Msgr. William Genuario, J.C.D. S.T.D. Romelee A. Howard, M.D. Founder and Chairman Emeritus Robert W. Huebner Thomas L. Kelly Trustees Emeriti William J. Kelly Prescott S. Bush, Jr. Christopher K. McLeod J. Edward Caldwell, J.D. Paul S. Miller David E.A. Carson Mary Ann Reberkenny Mercedes De Arango, Ph.D. William J. Riordan Robert Delaney, L.L.B., C.P.A William V. Roberti ’69 Lestet J. Dequaine, L.L.B. Ralph L. Rossi Charles M. Grace Lois Schine John McGough Robert D. Scinto ’71 Manning Pattillo, Ph.D. Lloyd Stauder, J.D. Carmen A. Tortora Rev. Msgr. Kevin W. Wallin U^rogram Processional Conferral of Raoul De Villiers, Ph.D. Honorary Degrees Mace Bearer and Marshal President Cernera Master of Ceremonies Thomas J. Trebon, Ph.D. William Pitt Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Citation read by Camille P. Reale National Anthem Professor of Management Erica M. Clough Class of 1996 Hood vested by Robert D. Scinto ’71 Invocation Trustee Margaret A. Palliser, OP, S.T.D. Director of Campus Ministry Diane Carlson Evans Valedictory Address Cesar Munoz Acebes Citation read by Cynthia P. Eberhart, Ph.D. Presidential Welcome Assistant Professor of Nursing Anthony). Cerneta, Ph.D. President Hood vested by A. Joan Connor Trustee Elie Wiesel Citation read by Frances S. Grodzinsky, Ph.D. Associate Professot of Computer Science Hood vested by Angelica Urra Berrie Trustee Commencement Address Class President's Salute Mr. Wiesel Linda G. Polletta Presentation of Candidates Benediction for Graduate Degrees The Most Rev. Richard E. Farmer, Ed.D. Edward M. Egan, J.C.D. Dean of Graduate Studies Chairman, Board of Trustees and Continuing Education Bishop, Diocese of Bridgeport Presentation of Candidates Recessional for Undergraduate Degrees Dr. Trebon Conferral of Degrees and Presentation of Diplomas President Cernera ^iHiam Ui. ^Pm III His name is not quite as ubiquitous as Kilroy’s, but it is close. From the palatial homes of Greenwich, to the gleaming office complexes of Stamford to the quiet neighborhoods surrounding Sacred Heart University, William H. Pitt’s name can be found on thousands of signs posted throughout the region. It’s been that way for nearly five decades, a period during which Pitt has built one of the most successful real estate businesses in the country. In doing so, he has helped shape the state and affected the lives and businesses of countless numbers of people. Pitt started his business in 1949 in Stamford with a telephone and a $6 desk. His office was located in a four-story mercantile building that his great-grandfather built in the 1880s on Main and Pacific streets. The site is now part of the Stamford Town Center mall. Over the years, he hdlped to sell thousands of homes. He also was instru­ mental in helping to establish Fairfield County as the nation’s “Gold Coast.’’ His firm was instrumental in recruiting such internationally respected corporations as American Can, GTE, Schweppes and Xerox to southwestern Connecticut during the 1970s, bringing new-found wealth and opportunity to the state and region. Still the chairman and chief executive officer, Pitt’s billion-dollar company is now comprised of US offices and 400 agents and staff. His company also continues to be based in his hometown of Stamford. “I like Stamford,” Pitt once told a reporter about the town where he was born in 1927. “I’ve lived here all my life. To me, it seemed to be the ideal opportunity to have my work here.” The fact that Pitt decided to stay home has also been ideal for Stamford and surrounding communities that have benefited from his generosity and community service. From 1952 to 1957, Pitt served as a member and later as chairman of the Stamford Urban Redevelopment Commission and helped resurrect the then-troubled city. The commission arranged to buy rundown properties with federal aid, then sell them to people who would build new homes or commercial buildings. Pitt has also been a longtime, active supporter and donor to many charities, including the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Stamford, assisting that organization by sponsoring scholarships for worthy young scholars. The club recognized his outstanding contributions to its good work by naming its new gymnasium after him in 1994. Two years ago, Pitt pledged $50(),()()() toward the endowment of the St. Joseph Medical Center in Stamford, a non-emergency, comprehensive healthcare facility operated by the Diocese of Bridgeport. He also established the William H. Pitt III Foundation, which has given generously to many worthwhile health and education organizations, including Sacred Heart University. On this 21st day of May 1995, Sacred Heart University is honored and pleased to confer its highest accolade, the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, upon William Pitt III Diane Carlson Gmns Women’s role in the Vietnam War received a modicum of attention until Diane Carlson Evans’ enduring personal campaign. A former Army nurse and Vietnam veteran, Evans envisioned a memorial to honor the mote than 265,000 women who served during the Vietnam era. While acknowledging that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., bore the names of eight women nurses who were killed, she believed this memotial, with its statue of thtee fighting men, did not fully recognize women’s contributions. “Women are also soldiers. Women also need to heal. 'I'heir service is worthy of honor and recognition,” said Evans, who formed a non-profit organization, the Women’s Vietnam Memorial Project, Inc., to help het pursue her dream. Nearly a decade of rejection and struggle ensued, nearly 10 years of turning obstacles into stepping stones passed — “There were times when I told my family this is just too painful, this is just too hard,” she remembers — before Evans and a core group of 75 saw their endeavor reach fruition. On Veteran’s Day 1993, more than 35,000 people from throughout the world gathered in the nation’s capital to witness the unveiling of the Women’s Vietnam Memotial statue on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Wreaths, flowers, cards, letters. Purple Hearts and other artifacts were placed at the base of the statue by hundreds of veterans. Vice President A1 Gore, himself a Vietnam veteran, issued these words of praise for his sister veterans during the two-hour ceremony: “Let’s all resolve that this memorial serves as a vehicle for healing our nation’s wounds. Let’s never again take so long in honoring a debt.” Evans, a native of Buffalo, Minn., graduated as a registered nurse from St. Barnabas Hospital School of Nursing in Minneapolis. As a captain in the Atmy Nurse Corps, she spent six years in the military, including service in Vietnam (1968-69) as a staff nurse in the surgical and burn wards at Vung Tau and later as head nurse in a surgical unit at Pleiko. After her four children were born, she counseled Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Today, as chair of the Vietnam Women’s Memotial Board of Directors, Evans volunteers full-time and serves as liaison with veterans’ organizations. She also participates in educational activities throughout the United States, speaking at universities and schools and before civic and humanitarian organizations. True to her roots, she continues to reside in the Minnesota community of Northfield with her husband, Michael, and their children. For her years of nursing our nation’s wounded and for her quest to illuminate women’s heroic efforts in Vietnam, Evans has received a multitude of awards from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and other veterans’ groups, from the Center for Women’s Policy Studies and other women’s organizations, and from universities and civic groups. On this 21st day of May 1995, Sacred Heart University bestows an extraordinary honor on itself as it confers the degree. Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, upon Diane Carlson Evans Slie^^Wiesd rhis world-renowned philosopher, scholar and author of more than 35 books was the first to use the term “Holocaust” to describe the systematic killing of six million Jews by the Nazis. Some call him “the spiritual archivist of the Holocaust.” A survivor of the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, Elie Wiesel has dedicated his life and his work to the memory of his parents and sister and all other Holocaust victims. His first book, published in the United States in 1960, was a revelation to countless millions of people who became awakened to the horrors of Nazism. His other books have explored all dimensions of living and surviving with this horror. The Nobel Peace Prize-winner and recipient of the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal of Achievement — one of the highest honors bestowed upon a civilian —continues to contribute to his standing as a writer and educator of global and historical significance. Wiesel said the best part about receiving the Nobel Prize in 1986 was that it would permit him to “speak louder” and “reach more people” for the causes that have driven him throughout his life.

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