Commencement 2021 Saturday, May 15, 2021 10:00 am

Order of Events

Procession of Platform Party led by Grand Marshal Dr. Karen Porter

National Anthem let by Elliott Safford ’21

Invocation by Reverend Laurie DeMott Introduction of Platform Party by President Mark Zupan Dr. Elizabeth Ann Dobie, Provost Gregory Connors, Chair Board of Trustees Reverend Laurie DeMott Dr. Jay Cerio, Dean, Graduate and Continuing Studies Dr. Kimberly Guyer, Vice President for Student Affairs Lauren Lake, Dean School of Art and Design Mark Lewis, Dean College of Business Brian Sullivan, Dean of Libraries

Marlin Miller Outstanding Students: Aanu Adeloye ’21 Holly Passeti ’21

Welcome by President Zupan

Congratulations from Gregory Connors, Chair Board of Trustees

Introduction of keynote speaker by Peter Cuneo ’67, MBA, LHD

Keynote speech by Soledad O’Brien

Soledad O’Brien is an award-winning television journalist who hosts and produces the Sunday morning syndicated political show, Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien and also reports for HBO’s Real Sports. She is founder and CEO of Soledad O’Brien Productions, a documentary production company dedicated to uncovering and producing empowering untold stories that take a challenging look at often divisive issues of race, class, wealth, opportunity, poverty and personal stories. During her career, O’Brien has anchored and reported for NBC (co-anchoring the news program Weekend Today; contributing reports for the Today Show and NBC Nightly News), MSNBC (anchoring the cable network’s weekend morning show and its technology program, The Site), and CNN (co-anchoring American Morning and Starting Point). She has won numerous awards, including three Emmys while working for CNN (for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2012 election and a 2013 series called “Kids and Race”), the George Peabody Award (2005, for coverage of Hurricane Katrina; and 2010, for coverage of BP Gulf Coast oil spill), and an Alfred I DuPont prize (for coverage of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami). A champion of diversity, O’Brien has given voice to the underserved and disenfranchised through her Emmy-winning reporting and acclaimed documentary series, Black in America and Latino in America. In 2006, Newsweek magazine named her one of the “15 People Who Make America Great.” In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, O’Brien and her husband, Brad Raymond, created the PowHERful Foundation to help young women get to and through college. The foundation hosts the PowHerful conferences that support hundreds of young women with mentoring programs, professional advice and other services. O’Brien attended Radcliffe College from 1984-88 (majoring initially in pre-med, then English and American Literature) but left to take a job at WBZ-TV in Boston. She returned to school and earned a degree in English and American Literature from Harvard in 2000. O’Brien and her husband have four children.

Vice President for Student Affairs Kimberly Guyer introduces first Marlin Miller Outstanding Student Aanu Adeloye delivers remarks

Vice President for Student Affairs Kimberly Guyer introduces second Marlin Miller Outstanding Student Holly Passeti delivers remarks

President Zupan directs viewers to their specific colleges/schools for their conferment of degrees

Welcome by the Dean

Recitation of Names

Induction of Alumni into the Alumni Association by Jeff Scharl ‘18

President Zupan delivers closing remarks and introduces the Alfred University Chamber Singers to lead the Alma Mater

Reverend Laurie DeMott recites the benediction