2016 Civility Prize President James H. Mullen, Jr. and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, a 2012 Allegheny honorary degree recipient, presented the fifth annual Allegheny College Prize for Civility in Public Life to Vice President Joe Biden and Senator John McCain at an afternoon ceremony in The University Club in Washington, D.C., on June 7. “These two political giants — one from the left and one from the right — regard civility to be a fundamental obligation of leadership in our democracy. And they have aspired mightily to honor that obligation — throughout their careers, and even in the cauldron of presidential politics,” said Mullen. The College created the Civility Prize in 2011 to highlight and reinforce the unheralded public figures who advance civility. photos by Matthew Lester
2016 Commencement Allegheny sent forth 458 more graduates at its May Commencement held in the 201st year of the College in the Wise Center Sports Forum. NBC News Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss, who was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the ceremony, delivered the Commencement address. Beschloss told graduates: “Keep close to you the strong friendships you have made here, be they with classmates, professors or administrators. This college has prepared you magnificently for a wonderful life.” In addition to Beschloss, honorary doctorates of humane letters were conferred on Victoria A. Lipnic, a 1982 Allegheny graduate and commissioner on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and M. Roy Wilson, a 1976 Allegheny graduate and president of Wayne State University. photos by Ed Mailliard
30 ALLEGHENY Summer 2016