MANSFIELD, PA— Two hundred eight six students received degrees at Mansfield University’s 150th Commencement on Saturday, December 13 at Decker Gymnasium.
“When you first arrived on campus I’m guessing it looked large, confusing and hilly,” MU President Fran Hendricks, a 1979 Mansfield graduate, told the graduates. “Today it’s just hilly.”
“Graduates of the Class of 2014, it’s your time,” he added. “Challenges and rewards await each of you. Be bold and daring as you chart your course and seize your destiny.”
Steve Crawford, vice chair of the Mansfield University Council of Trustees and a 1981 Mansfield graduate, was the speaker.
Crawford is the managing vice president of S. R. Wojdak & Associates, one of the most prestigious and long standing government relations firms in Pennsylvania. He joined Wojdak in March of 2011, after a career in public service that spanned 25 years at the highest levels of Pennsylvania state government.
“I believe you have a responsibility,” Crawford told the new graduates and now fellow alumni. “You have a responsibility to take this education beyond the confines of your chosen discipline, to use it for a common good. I implore you to go forward from here and involve yourself as a learned, aware and involved member of society. Treasure your own education. Recognize that it’s a gift that too many in our country and our world find to be out of reach. And the social cost–to all of us, throughout the world is staggering. At home, the lack of education too often presents itself in our corrections system, as our prison population bulges at it’s serpentine wired seams. Elsewhere in the world, the denial of an education, particularly to girls, is used as the ultimate tool of oppression. You don’t have to look any further than this week’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Malala Yousafzai of Pakastan, to know what that means.”
To view Crawford’s entire speech, click here.
The ceremony also marked the debut of the Mansfield University Graduation Coin. Presented by the Student Government Association (SGA), the new coin was inspired by the President’s Coin for Excellence which MU President Fran Hendricks commissioned and began presenting selectively to persons who have contributed greatly to the university, using the creed as a guideline, earlier this semester.
The Mansfield University Graduation Coin was designed by Graphic Arts alumnus Yukta Sagar ’14.
SGA will present a coin to each graduate. Also, four faculty and staff members, representing the four tenets of the Creed, will be honored with the current year’s coin for their service to MU students.
SGA President Victoria Malatesta presented inaugural recipients Gayle Kreger, Dining Services; Robert Maris, professor of Biology; John Maslar, Web and Marketing Team/Campus Technologies; and Ryan Wood, Custodial/Grounds manager, with this year’s coin.
President Hendricks also presented Crawford with a 1981 Graduation Coin.
Graduates and alumni will be able to purchase additional coins for this year, or their year of graduation, through the Mountie Den campus bookstore beginning in 2015. All proceeds go directly to the H2S No-Interest Loan fund for MU students.
Also during Commencement, Sharon Mokrzynski Kendrick ’81, vice president of the Alumni Association, gave the alumni greeting. Student Trustee Zane Swanger represented the Council of Trustees and introduced Crawford.
The MU Brass Band, conducted by Associate Professor Nathan Rinnert, provided musical accompaniment for the event. Music major Deanna Yoder was soloist. Campus Minister Courtney Hull delivered the convocation. Associate Professor Charles Hoy served as grand marshal and Professor Lee Wright was herald.
To see pictures from Commencement, click here.