COMMENCEMENT - 2011

WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWSNYU’s Daily Student Newspaper

COMMENCEMENTCLASS OF 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

4

College of Arts and Science

4

College of Nursing

5

Gallatin School of Individualized Study

5

Leonard N. Stern School of Business

6

School of Continuingand Professional Studies

6

Silver School of Social Work

7

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

7

Tisch School of the Arts

8-14

All School Commencement

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: pas-sionate 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.”

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

Tuesday, May 17 | 11 a.m. Jacob K. Javits Convention Center

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.

“GREATNESS HAS BEEN THRUST

upon our shoulders, for it is 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

“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

500GRADUATES

4 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011

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.

528GRADUATES

“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. STERNSCHOOL 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 commence-

ment 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.

1,394GRADUATES

“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

FRIDAY, MAY 20 2011 | CLASS OF 2011 COMMENCEMENT | 5

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.

SILVER SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORk

“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

607GRADUATES


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.

“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)

1,229 GRADUATES

STEINHARDT SCHOOL OF CULTURE, EDUCATION,

AND HUMAN DEVELOpMENT

Monday, May 16 | 3 p.m. | Jacob K. Javits Convention Center

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, say-ing their curiosity will lead them to the extraordinary.


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

1,239GRADUATES

“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

CLASS OF 2011COMMENCEMENT


CLASS OF 2011 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 pro-tected 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 success-ful. 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.”COMMENCEMENT


“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




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.

“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




Robyn Baitcher

Damon Beres

Bryant Chan

Kyle Cheromcha

Justin Davidson

Guido Ditto

Ben Funk

Roomie Huh

Nate Hurtsellers

Justin Izzo

Chris James

Jessica Kramer

Randy Kreider

Michaela Kron

Elizabeth Kreutz

Carol Kuruvilla

Logan Lamson

Ben Levine

Matt Margini

Michael McCormack

Elina Mishuris

Richa Naik

Stelios Phili

Eric Gregory Platt

Will Pulos

Amanda Sakuma

Rachel Holliday Smith

Rob Stengel

Jane C. Timm

Logan Whiteside

Mel Zahnd

Natalie Zutter

This year,the Washington Square Newshas 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 dedi-

cated their college careers to make the WSN as strong as it has become.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS

Editor-in-Chief JAYWON ERIC CHOE

Managing Editor | Print KELSEY DESIDERIO

Managing Editor | Online

ARIELLE MILKMAN

Deputy Managing Editor

KATIE THOMPSON

Assistant Managing Editor RUSSELL STEINBERG

Creative Director

FRANCIS POON

Photography

DAVID LINPRIYANKA KATUMULUWA

LAUREN STRAUSSER

CopyLAURA SANTOSKI

JACK BROOKS

AdvertisingREBECCA RIBEIRO

Advising

DAVID COSGROVEKEITH LEIGHTY

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COMMENCEMENT - 2011