SUNY Chancellor to speak at Commencement Ceremony May 18

NEW PALTZ — The State University of New York at New Paltz will hold its May Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 18, on the Old Main Quadrangle.

John B. Clark, interim chancellor of the State University of New York

John B. Clark, interim chancellor of the State University of New York, will deliver the undergraduate commencement address.

There are 1,032 total undergraduate candidates in this May’s graduating class, of which 800 have chosen to participate in the ceremony on Sunday.

Clark, who was appointed interim chancellor in June 2007, joined the SUNY system in 2003 as interim president of Plattsburgh. He went on to hold interim presidencies at Brockport, the College of Optometry and the College of Technology at Alfred. Prior to his appointment as interim chancellor, Clark also once served as acting vice chancellor of enrollment and university life at SUNY System Administration.

“It is a privilege and honor to have Interim Chancellor Clark on our campus,” said College President Steven Poskanzer. “He is a longtime friend to New Paltz and we are pleased that he wants to share this day with our graduates.”

This year’s valedictorian, Evan Hunerberg, an English major from Floral Park, will also address the undergraduates. Hunerberg plans to attend law school after graduation to “study the legal tradition of the United States.” His top choices are Pennsylvania State University and the University of California in Los Angeles.

The salutatorian is Heather Robertshaw of Rifton. She is a History major pursuing Elementary Education certification. As part of her studies in the School of Education, Robertshaw has been a student teacher at Duzine Elementary School in New Paltz and Sophie-Finn Elementary School in Kingston, where she worked with second-grade students.

The college will hold the May Graduate Commencement Ceremony at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 16, in the Athletic and Wellness Center. The graduate candidates will participate in a formal “hooding ceremony,” where the dean of the department of the degree granted will officially “hood” the students as they walk across the stage. There are 175 graduate candidates scheduled to attend the ceremony out of a total graduating class of 352.

Both commencement ceremonies are ticketed events, and all graduation candidates and spectators must present tickets to participate. For more information, visit www.newpaltz.edu/commencement.