Family, friends, faculty and staff celebrated SUNY Oneonta’s Class of 2023 during Fall Commencement on a rainy Sunday, Dec. 10.
Visitors gathered inside the Alumni Field House to recognize the 300 students expected to complete their requirements for graduation this semester.
The day before, Saturday, seniors participated in the traditional Pass Through the Pillars event. All first-year students officially join the SUNY Oneonta community the night before classes by walking between the historic pillars of Old Main, the college’s first building, toward a welcoming crowd. The tradition comes full circle when the graduating seniors walk the opposite way through the pillars, signifying the end of their time at Oneonta.
During Sunday’s ceremony, speakers included Student Association President Emily Destefano ‘24, Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs Enrique Morales-Diaz, Presiding Officer of the Faculty Keith Jones, College President Alberto Cardelle, and guest speaker Paul Hernandez, senior advisor to the president at Achieving the Dream (an organization that works with colleges across the country on innovative ways to address challenges and foster equitable student success) and author of the best-selling book, "The Pedagogy of Real Talk: Engaging, Teaching and Connecting Students At-Promise.”
Catskill Brass provided musical selections for the event, the Leatherstocking District Pipe Band performed the processional, and Julian Gotiangco ’23 sang the national anthem and alma mater. Alumni Association President Drew McKay ’05 delivered the alumni greeting.
During his address, Dr. Cardelle thanked graduates, employees and audience members for being part of a community that “distinguishes itself for its service to each other and for its service to the broader community.” That includes volunteer work downtown and around the world, faculty and staff who go above and beyond for students, alumni who help students through internships and generous donations toward scholarships and the student emergency fund, parents and family members who team up and raise money for those in need, and even simple acts of kindness, like a conversation over coffee or a hug.
“These acts of compassion and humanity serve as beacons of hope in times when social media and the news highlight the darkest aspects of human nature,” Dr. Cardelle said. “I ask that we all continue to embody our campus’s caring and compassion and have it serve as an antidote to the toxic polarization and loathing that has distorted our national discourse and our basic mutual respect for each other. Let us commit ourselves to creating this better world that poets dream of.”
View photos from Pass Through the Pillars and Commencement