NYU’s Daily Student Newspaper
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS
COMMENCEMENT CLASS OF 2011
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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College of Arts and Science
College of Nursing
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
Leonard N. Stern School of Business
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School of Continuing and Professional Studies
Silver School of Social Work
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
Tisch School of the Arts
All School Commencement
4 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE Tuesday, May 17 | 11 a.m. Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
“Greatness has been thrust upon our shoulders, for it is
A story about the simple generosity of a stranger paying for a cup of coffee reminded CAS graduates at their commencement ceremony that greatness is indeed everywhere. Told by valedictorian Chere See, the story encouraged the more than 2,000 students in the packed Javitz Center to always take risks and be great. Their efforts at NYU and newly minted degrees, See said, have already put them on the right path to do so.
up to us to enable our children to be sons and daughters of a better age.” – Chere See, CAS senior
2,233 graduates
COLLEGE OF NURSING Monday, May 16 | 11 a.m. | New Amsterdam Theatre
Compassion was the theme of the College of Nursing’s graduation ceremony at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Keynote speaker Claire Mintzer Fagin encouraged graduates to embody five traits: passionate curiosity, battle-hardened confidence, team smarts, a simple mindset and fearlessness. Actress and philanthropist Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, who comes from a nursing background, was also honored at the ceremony. The graduation exercises concluded with a recitation of the Nursing Pledge, which promises “to conserve meaningful life, to alleviate suffering and to promote health.”
500
graduates
“As nurses, we are first and foremost patient advocates ... We are the first responders at the bedside. We know what our patients need. The challenge remains the same whether you have one patient or eight. They are trusting us with their lives.” — Theresa Brown, 2011 Distinguished Clinician Award for Contributions to the Clinical Enterprise recipient, read by Brian Raimondo, Baccalaureate speaker
FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | 5
GALLATIN SCHOOL OF INDIVIDUALIZED STUDY Thursday, May 19 | 7 p.m. Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall
A packed house at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center was the setting for a light-hearted yet inspirational ceremony celebrating the graduates of the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Student speaker David Sugarman poked fun at how learning sometimes led to mass confusion among his classmates but also assured the crowd that the confusion ultimately made him wiser. Faculty speaker Kimberly McClain DaCosta closed out the ceremony by urging the graduates to continue to make the connections that made their college careers so successful.
528
graduates
“We can start asking what — as uncertain as we are — do we want our lives to be? How do we want the world to look? With all the things we learned and all the things we thought, it might make us
exponentially more confused, but it also makes us exponentially wiser. In our classes we will learn and in our learning we will continue to grow wise.” — David Sugarman, GALLATIN SENIOR
LEONARD N. STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Wednesday, May 19 | 8 p.m. Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
Cheers and laughter replaced the harmonies that typically fill historic Avery Fisher Hall at Stern’s annual commencement exercises. Keynote speaker Paul Tanico (B.S. ’77) stressed the value of work — be it in a chicken market or an investment bank. Always pursue what you love, graduates were told, and never stop learning.
1,394 graduates
“Always look around when you walk down the street. Look
up, look at the stars. Do things that slow your life down and run a path that gives you a bit of perspective so you’re never trapped doing one thing.” — Paul Tanico, FOUNDER AND MANAGING PRINCIPAL, CASTLEROCK MANAGEMENT
6 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011
SCHOOL OF CONTINUING AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Monday, May 16 | 6 p.m. | The Grand Hyatt Hotel
The small, diverse SCPS Class of 2011 gathered in the Grand Hyatt Hotel for an intimate ceremony that was quirky at times. Dean Robert Lapiner asked the crowd “How you doin’,” encompassing the question he said is on every New Yorker’s mind. Keynote speaker Steve Grove, head of News and Politics at Youtube, streamed viral videos for the graduating seniors, including “Charlie bit my finger,” to remind graduates of the power of public conversation.
1,229 graduates
“It is amazing what you learn when you open your eyes and ears to the world. Listen to those that you disagree with. Learn from those who think otherwise and counter them. You may find their opinions to be contrary to your own. You may find their opinions to be uninformed or maybe seem ignorant to you. But emotions are never ignorant.” — Steve Grove, Head of News and Politics, YouTube (at Google)
SILVER SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Wednesday, May 18 | 3 p.m. | Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall
The importance of service was fittingly the theme of the Silver School of Social Work’s 50th annual commencement ceremony. Speaking to a packed house, former New York Governor David Paterson praised students for their ongoing commitment to helping others. He reminded them that together, they could help change a world plagued by economic as well as social woes.
607
graduates
“The names of educators are not inscribed on the stones of monuments or places of great honor, rather they are
inscribed on the souls of generations.”
— Former New York Gov. David Paterson
FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | 7
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
Tuesday, May 17 | 11 a.m. | New Beacon Theatre
The Steinhardt graduation, Dean Patricia Carey must have hoped, was one of those moments in time that graduating seniors will remember in minute detail. Her opening remarks focused on the nuances in the concept of time, and she encouraged graduates to make the most of the years ahead of them. At the ceremony, the 2,440 Steinhardt graduates, along with faculty, university speakers and award recipients, celebrated their shared commitment to education and community learning.
2,440 graduates
“We will never underestimate our shared sense of motivation and our uncanny ability to learn so much from one another.”
— Katie Sylvester, Steinhardt senior
TISCH SCHOOL OF THE ARTS Monday, May 16 | 3 p.m. | Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
“Everyone wants to give you a gift, but truth be told, you’re leaving behind a treasure trove of gifts for
us. You are no ordinary graduates. You are leaders in the vanguard of change and disruption. You will disrupt and disturb, and that’s a good thing. A very good thing.” — Mary Schmidt Campbell, Dean
1,239 graduates
Disruption and curiosity were the two qualities presented to graduates of the Tisch School of the Arts on Monday afternoon at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. As the class of over 1,200 finished their time at NYU, student speaker Chase W. Marotz spoke of the inspirational effect they will have on the arts. In order to have that influence, dean Mary Schmidt Campbell urged graduates to continue to “disrupt and disturb,” while guest speaker Brian Grazer asked students to step out of their comfort zones, saying their curiosity will lead them to the extraordinary.
8 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011
CLASS OF 201 COMMENCEMENT
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FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | 9
Yankee Stadium saw its seats once again filled with purple and white Wednesday morning as NYU’s 179th commencement exercises took over the Bronx ballpark. Again faced with the threat of rain, graduates crowded into the stadium hoping for good weather, their caps and gowns protected by ponchos and umbrellas. Luckily, the ceremony was interrupted by only a brief shower. Headlining the ceremony was former president Bill Clinton, who took the podium to cheers from the crowd. Clinton reminded students that “the great challenge of your life will be to live out your personal story.” CAS senior Michelle Pomeroy addressed her fellow graduates, urging her class to “channel the power of passion, genuine determination and gratitude” to be successful. After the ceremony, the 15,000 students from the university’s undergraduate and graduate schools turned their tassels and flooded outside the stadium as the cast of the NYU Reality Show reminded them to always “learn to love and live.”
10 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011
“WHEN YOu chose to make NYU your academic home,
you deliberately chose the most complex and cacophonous university in the world. You did that at the dawn of an age that is complex and cacophonous, an age in which the future of human kind turns upon your ability to turn that complexity and cacophony into a community of human kind. You chose to study at a university where you could learn the skills of managing complexity and cacophony and where you could hone your ability to build over the chasms of differences, the bridges and tunnels of community.” — NYU President John Sexton
FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | 11
12 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011
TOP: CAS senior Michelle Pomeroy addresses her fellow graduates. BOTTOM: The cast of the NYU Reality Show performs. RIGHT: Former President Bill Clinton offers a few words of wisdom.
FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | 13
“There is something to be said for not quitting
, not giving up and showing up through the difficult times as well as the easiest ones. If you pursue your dreams, you can’t quit when you fail, you can’t quit when you mess up and you can’t quit when life seems to give you a tough hand. You have been given the tools to try. Now it is up to your will, your mind and your heart. Do what you love and work hard at it and don’t quit. Create your world that shares opportunities, shares responsibilities and shares community.” — Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
14 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011
FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | 15
This year, the Washington Square News has thirty-two reasons to be
thankful.
In our pursuit of perfection, we have relied on contributions from hundreds of staff members over the past four years. We are grateful that these graduating editors dedicated their college careers to make the WSN as strong as it has become. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Robyn Baitcher
Jessica Kramer
Stelios Phili
Damon Beres
Randy Kreider
Eric Gregory Platt
Bryant Chan
Michaela Kron
Will Pulos
Kyle Cheromcha
Elizabeth Kreutz
Amanda Sakuma
Justin Davidson
Carol Kuruvilla
Rachel Holliday Smith
Guido Ditto
Logan Lamson
Rob Stengel
Ben Funk
Ben Levine
Jane C. Timm
Roomie Huh
Matt Margini
Logan Whiteside
Nate Hurtsellers
Michael McCormack
Mel Zahnd
Justin Izzo
Elina Mishuris
Natalie Zutter
Chris James
Richa Naik
Editor-in-Chief JAYWON ERIC CHOE
KATIE THOMPSON
Managing Editor | Print
Assistant Managing Editor
KELSEY DESIDERIO
Washington Square News
Managing Editor | Online
ARIELLE MiLKMAN
Deputy Managing Editor
RUSSELL STEINBERG Creative Director
FRANCIS POON
Photography
DAVID LIN PRIYANKA KATUMULUWA LAUREN STRAUSSER Copy
LAURA SANTOSKI JACK BROOKS
Advertising
REBECCA RIBEIRO Advising
DAVID COSGROVE KEITH LEIGHTY