April 30, 2014
PASSHE universities list spring commencements, speakers
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Harrisburg – The 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities will hold commencement
ceremonies at various times and locations May 9-12. Details of the programs, including
scheduled speakers, follow:
Bloomsburg – Three university alumni will address undergraduates at separate commencement ceremonies
scheduled for 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m., May 10, on the Academic Quadrangle. Michael
Gillespie (’95), chief accounting officer for Hersha Hospitality Trust and treasurer
of the Bloomsburg University Foundation Board of Directors, will address graduates
of the College of Business and College of Education in the morning ceremony. Duane
Greenly (’72), who is retired from Ames True Temper Inc., where he was chief executive
officer and president, will address graduates of the College of Science and Technology
at noon. John Wetzel (’98), secretary of the State Department of Corrections and a
member of BU’s Council of Trustees, will speak to graduates in the College of Liberal
Arts at the afternoon ceremony. In case of inclement weather, the ceremonies will
be held in Nelson Field House on the upper campus.
Degrees will be conferred to graduate students during a ceremony scheduled for 7 p.m.,
May 9, in Haas Center for the Arts, Mitrani Hall.
California – Reginald A. Long Sr., a 1981 alumnus of Cal U. and a partner in the law firm of
Love and Long LLP, which has offices in Newark, N.J., and Philadelphia, will speak
at both the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies scheduled for May 9 and 10. Graduate
students will receive their degrees at 7 p.m., May 9, while undergraduates will be
presented their degrees in a program scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., May 10. Both events
will be held in the Convocation Center.
Cheyney – Dr. Randal D. Pinkett, founder, chairman and CEO of BCT Partners, will address
graduates at 11 a.m., May 10, on the historic Quadrangle. Dr. Pinkett was the first
and only African-American to receive the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship at Rutgers
University. He also was the winner of NBC’s hit reality television show, The Apprentice,
with Donald Trump.
Clarion – Guido M. Pichini, chairman of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s
Board of Governors, will speak at separate ceremonies at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., May 10,
in Tippin Gymnasium. Students in the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of
Business Administration will participate in the morning ceremony, and those in the
College of Education & Human Services, the Division of Student Affairs and the School
of Nursing and Allied Health, in the afternoon. Pichini is president of WSK & Associates
and its related companies of Wyomissing. In 2011, he became the first PASSHE university
alumnus to be elected chair of the board that oversees the State System, and he is
now in his third term as chair.
Dr. Joe Carrico, superintendent of the Oil City Area School District, will address
graduates of the Venango College of Clarion University at 7 p.m., May 10 in the Robert
W. Rhoades Gymnasium.
East Stroudsburg – James Franklin, a 1995 ESU graduate and the head football coach at Pennsylvania
State University, will address undergraduates at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., May 10, in
Koehler Fieldhouse. Students in the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Education
will receive their degrees during the morning ceremony, while those in the College
of Business and Management and College of Health Sciences will participate in the
afternoon program. Franklin earned a degree in psychology from East Stroudsburg, where,
as a member of the football team, he set or tied 23 school season or career records.
Sam Niedbala, president and CEO of CryoConcepts, a leading manufacturer of cryosurgical
equipment, and CEO of tbbiosciences, an early stage medical diagnostics company, both
of Bethlehem, will address graduate students at 7 p.m., May 9, at Koehler Fieldhouse.
Edinboro – Former Governor Tom Ridge, who left the office to become the first head of the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will address undergraduates at 10 a.m., May
10, in McComb Fieldhouse. Ridge, who grew up and began he political career in Erie,
also will receive an honorary degree. Since the end of his tenure as a cabinet secretary
in 2005, he has served as president and chief executive of Ridge Global, which helps
businesses and governments address risk management, global trade security, emergency
preparedness and other needs.
Graduate students will receive their degrees in a separate ceremony scheduled for
2 p.m., May 10, in Louis C. Cole Auditorium of Memorial Hall.
Indiana – Terry Dunlap, executive vice president of ATI Flat Rolled Products Group, will
speak at separate ceremonies scheduled for 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., May 10, in the Kovalchick
Convention and Athletic Complex. Students from the College of Fine Arts, College of
Natural Sciences and Mathematics and College of Health and Human Services will receive
their degrees during the morning ceremony and those in the Eberly College of Business
and Information Technology, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and College
of Education and Educational Technology will receive their degrees in the afternoon.
Dunlap is a recipient of the IUP Distinguished Alumni Award and Eberly College of
Business and Information Technology Hall of Distinction. Abbie Bender of Waynesboro,
who will receive a bachelor's degree in biology, will be the student speaker for the
morning ceremony; Kasi Hicks of Harrisburg, who will receive a bachelor's degree in
communications media, will speak at the afternoon ceremony.
Kutztown – Faculty and student speakers will address separate ceremonies scheduled for 9 a.m.
and 2 p.m., May 10, in O’Pake Fieldhouse. Megan Evans, who is graduating with a Bachelor
of Science degree in early childhood education, and Dr. Teresa Sychterz, professor
of elementary education will speak at the morning ceremony for those receiving degrees
from the College of Business and College of Education. Kristie Thudium, who will receive
her degree in psychology, and Randy Schaeffer, professor of mathematics and mathematics
education, will speak at the afternoon ceremony for those receiving degrees from the
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Lock Haven – Micah Smith, assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for
the Southern District of New York (Manhattan), will address graduate and undergraduate
students at separate ceremonies May 9 and 10. The graduate ceremony will be held at
7:30 p.m., May 9, in Price Auditorium; the undergraduate ceremony, at 10 a.m., May
10, in Hubert Jack Stadium. Smith is a 2003 LHU graduate and attended Harvard Law
School, where was editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Mansfield – Dr. Francis (Frank) Duffy, distinguished educator, author and a 1974 Mansfield
graduate, will speak at 11 a.m., May 10, in Decker Gymnasium. Duffy is a professor
of public administration and coordinates a Master of Public Administration program
at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. He has been at the university for 32 years
and specializes in leadership for change in organizations, especially in school systems.
Millersville – Lieutenant General David L. Mann, commanding general USASMDC/ARSTRAT, will speak
at the undergraduate commencement ceremony at 10 a.m., May 10, in Biemesderfer Stadium,
Chryst Field. Mann is a distinguished military graduate of Gettysburg College after
graduating from Millersville University in 1981. He assumed command of the U.S. Army
Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command and Joint Functional
Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense in August 2013.
Deborah Tait Castellucci, the graduate program coordinator in nursing at Millersville,
will address graduate students at 6:30 p.m., May 9, in Pucillo Gymnasium. Castellucci
also teaches in the graduate nurse practitioner program at MU.
Shippensburg – Major General Tony Cucolo, the 49th commandant of the U.S. Army War College, will
speak during the undergraduate ceremony at 11 a.m., May 10, in Seth Grove Stadium.
Prior to his two years as commandant, he spent 10 months as the director of force
development for the Deputy Chief of Staff at the Department of the Army in the Pentagon.
Karen Sheriff, director of the Perry County Area Agency on Aging, will address graduate
students at 7 p.m., May 9, in the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center. She holds both
a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Shippensburg.
Slippery Rock – Faculty members Tom Sparro and Bruce Orvis will speak at separate ceremonies scheduled
for 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., May 10, in Morrow Field House. Sparrow, a professor of
philosophy and the 2014 Winner of the President's Award for Research and Scholarly
Activity, will address graduate students and undergraduates in the College of Health,
Environment and Science and College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts at the
morning ceremony. Orvis, a business professor and 2014 winner of the President's Award
for Teaching, will speak in the afternoon to those in the College of Business, Information
and Social Sciences and the College of Education.
West Chester - Brigadier General Carol Eggert, assistant adjutant general for the Joint Force
Headquarters of the Pennsylvania National Guard will speak to undergraduates at 10
a.m. and 3 p.m., May 10, at Farrell Stadium.
Claudia Hellebush, president and CEO of United Way of Chester County, will address
graduate students at 7 p.m., May 12, at Hollinger Field House Both speakers are WCU
alums.
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher
education in the Commonwealth, with about 112,000 students. The 14 State System universities
offer degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study.
The universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro,
Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock
and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operates branch
campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP) and Clearfield (Lock
Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the
Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.