Flexibility was the word of the day on Thursday (May 23) at SUNY Orange as the College hosted three separate Commencement ceremonies, one that was moved indoors due to morning thunderstorms and two conducted outdoors in a tent on the College’s Alumni Green, all with the focus of providing graduates the well-deserved opportunity to walk across the stage and be congratulated on earning their degrees.

In all, approximately 450 graduates participated in SUNY Orange’s 74th Commencement ceremonies, where they were urged to think about others, celebrate the results of their hard work and take pride in the community they created at SUNY Orange.

That community spirit was on display early in the day as thunder and lightning in the morning necessitated the College moving its Health Professions ceremony indoors to the Physical Education Center. The move did little to dampen the spirits of the graduates, most of whom also celebrated coveted pinning ceremonies this week and will soon be sitting for licensing exams in a variety of healthcare roles.

Bright sunny skies and growing humidity greeted the BMST (Business, Math, Science and Technology) graduates for their 2 p.m. ceremony under the tent, while the Liberal Arts graduates filed under the tent at 5 p.m. on a nice mid-Spring evening.

Student speakers included Angie Almeyda (Health Professions), Djean Nikitov (BMST) and Lucia Vanella (Liberal Arts). Vanella and Nikitov were recipients of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence this past Spring.

They were joined by faculty speakers Mary Ann McGinnis-Adamo, chair of the Dental Hygiene Department; Liz Carris-Swan, associate professor of mathematics; and Dr. Michael Quinn, assistant professor of Global Studies. Additional remarks were offered by SUNY Orange Board of Trustees Chair Ralph Martucci Jr., Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus and representatives of the SUNY Orange Foundation. The BMST grads were also joined by State University of New York Trustee Stanley Litow.

“We all have had different paths to get us here. Some of us are straight out of high school and some have high schoolers, but we are all here accomplishing our dreams,” said nursing program graduate Angie Almeyda, who spoke to her fellow Health Professions graduates in the morning. “We all pushed past the obstacles to not only be accepted into health professional programs but to reach this side. I am very proud we changed the trajectory of our lives after a few years of sacrifices.”

In her remarks, Young took the audiences back to 1949 when a group of civic-minded citizens of Orange County eagerly adopted a new higher education concept—community college—and eventually created SUNY Orange. She said those founders, as committed and visionary as they were, likely could not have imagined the College and its graduates today, even in their wildest dreams.

“My wish for you as you head off to your next phase, your next challenge, is partially that you never stop being someone’s wildest dream because so far, so good. You’re about to get your college diploma. But as you progress and you have your own dreams, I wish for your dreams to include the collective and that you connect to the dreams of the ones around you,” Young explained. “Imagine sitting on this lawn in another 75 years, what might Orange County, New York, and the United States be saying about our collective good then? What is our community’s wildest dream?”

For the Liberal Arts graduates, Vanella shared her appreciation for having selected SUNY Orange as her first educational stop after high school. “The teachers, the staff, and the students here made me grateful that I ‘missed out’ on the typical ‘college experience’ because I got to be a part of this wonderful community,” she said. “I want us all to recognize the rarity of what we had. I want us all to take a moment to appreciate those who helped us create our own communities and I want to thank all of you for being an influential part of mine.

“We will now go to other institutions or careers. Some might come back here, or go home, but wherever we go we know how to make lasting connections that mean something and that’s worth more than any ‘college experience.’ So, congratulations graduates for not only graduating, but becoming part of something great. Becoming part of a community.”

In all, approximately 650 students completed their degree and certificate programs over the past academic year, pending final review of transcripts.