Siena College celebrated its 76th Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 15 at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Bachelor’s degrees in business, liberal arts and science were awarded to 731 graduates, and 54 students received master’s degrees in accounting.
The Class of 2016, surrounded by family and friends, reflected on the qualities that make a Siena degree unique to other colleges and universities.
“We will be people who hold doors for our colleagues, because that is what Siena taught us,” said commencement speaker Meena Zakher ‘16. “We will be the people who help our fellow co-workers, because that is what Siena taught us. And we will create tight-knit communities wherever we go, because that is what Siena has taught us.”
Zakher’s participation in Siena’s Albany Medical Program shaped his four years in the classroom, but it was the experiences he received outside of Roger Bacon Hall that taught him the most.
“Experiences like Habitat for Humanity, service trips to Africa, studying abroad and learning about different cultures, and so many memorable moments we shared together as a class,” he continued “I may not remember Dr. Hayden’s lecture about the sodium potassium pump in the cell membrane 10 years down the road, but I will never forget the experiences we shared as Saints outside the classroom. Helping each other and reaching out into our community and all across the world.”
Class of 2016 President Ariana Tagliaferri echoed Zakher’s sentiment, elaborating that Siena’s small class sizes create a unique bond between professors and students that has provided graduates with the education of a lifetime.
“Only at Siena College will teachers know students’ names by the second day of class, recognize when students aren’t feeling well a particular week, or allow them to stay in their office for extra help, well after their office hours have ended,” Tagliaferri said.
These unique features of Siena’s education have given the Class of 2016 the tools needed to succeed on each of their unique paths as they walk out into the world as sons and daughters of Siena College.
“Siena has provided us with the foundation of our future, and now it is our job to utilize our knowledge and emulate the values that we learned here,” Tagliaferri said. “We will be the active hero in our own storybooks, we will follow our passions and intuitions, we will be bold and won’t let our fears overwhelm our desires.”
Commencement also featured words from Siena Trustee Daniel "Din" Cahill ’75, Associate Professor of English and The Fr. Jerome Walton Award for Excellence in Teaching recipient, Christiane Farnan ’93, and honorary degree recipient Ambassador Douglas Hickey ’77. These three successful alumni exemplify the success that Siena graduates can achieve with hard work, determination and the Siena community by their side.
Providing advice to the graduating Saints, Ambassador Hickey said, “Do something big. If you can’t do something big, do something not so big. Just do something to change the world, we all can affect it.”
Photos from Commencement activities:
Commencement: Here
Alpha Kappa Alpha Induction Ceremony: Here
Senior Award Ceremony: Here
Master's in Accounting Hooding: Here
Centre d’Études Franco-Américain de Management (CEFAM) Ceremony: Here
Mohawk Army ROTC Commissioning Ceremony: Here
Baccalaureate Mass: Here
Baccalaureate Reception: Here
