Alice Walker, the internationally celebrated writer, poet and social activist whose books include seven novels, four collections of short stories, four children’s books, and volumes of essays and poetry, will address the Class of 2020 during the college’s 66th Commencement, a virtual celebration due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Please visit www.hvcc.edu/commencement where Commencement will be streamed beginning at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 6 to help congratulate the nearly 1,800 students who are receiving a degree or certificate. The celebration will run about one hour.
A native of Georgia, Ms. Walker’s work has been translated into more than two dozen languages, and her books have sold more than 15 million copies. In 1982, she wrote the novel “The Color Purple,” for which she earned a National Book Award for hardcover fiction, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Also among those who will address the graduates are President Roger Ramsammy, United States Senator Charles Schumer; Neil Kelleher, Board of Trustees chairman; Michael Stammel, Rensselaer County Legislature chairman and Rensselaer mayor; WTEN News Anchor John Gray ’83; Student Senate President Zion Sherin ’20, and Professor Jeff Schoonmaker, who retired in May 2020 after 51 years of teaching physics at Hudson Valley.
American Idol finalist Madison VanDenburg will sing “The Star Spangled Banner” to open the celebration, as well as perform at the close of the event. Profiles of graduates and greetings from faculty and staff will be interspersed throughout the program. The Student Choir also will perform.
The program will include a ceremonial conferral of degrees by President Ramsammy and Judith DiLorenzo, vice president for Academic Affairs.
All faculty, staff and students are encouraged to “join” the festivities to show their support of the Class of 2020, whose final semester was unlike any other in the history of the college!
Published: Wed, 03 Jun 2020 12:15:08 +0000 by d.gardner