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UC Celebrates Convocation with Record Class

Harry J. Cynkus '71 to Kick Off Campus Theme

Written By Thomas Armitage '09, PR Intern

Contact - cleogrande@utica.edu

Next week will mark the beginning of the new academic year for Utica College, welcoming students and faculty from throughout the world.

Utica College will celebrate its 62nd annual Convocation ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday (August 25) in the Harold Thomas Clark Jr. Athletic Center Gymnasium. This year’s keynote address will be delivered by Harry J. Cynkus, a 1971 graduate of UC, who is now chief financial officer and treasurer of Rollins, Inc.
The largest freshman class since the college’s opening, along with approximately 180 transfer students, will march to the athletic center while the bell atop Bell Hall tolls. College officials expect a freshman class of approximately 580 students.

The new students include the largest group of internaitonal students UC has ever seen. More than 40 new international students hail from Peru, Japan, Trinidad, Burma, Vietnam, Israel, Turkey and Canada.

"Utica College's programs - particularly the new majors -- have a global application," said Kate Cominsky, director of international admissions, citing interest in the economic crime programs, geoscience and biochemistry.

Cynkus will address the college community and kick off this year’s campus theme, “Six Degrees of Connection: You, Utica College, and Our Place in the Global Community.” Cynkus’ company, Rollins Inc., is a consumer and commercial services company that provides essential pest control services and protection against termite damage, rodents and insects to over 2 million customers.

UC’s Convocation is a formal ceremony that officially marks the beginning of the incoming students’ academic careers at the school. The tolling of the bell, one of Utica College’s newest traditions, signals the beginning of the academic year. The century-old bell was a gift to the college from alumnus Randy Huta, associate professor emeritus of accounting, and his wife Carol. The ringing of the bell is also repeated at Commencement to mark the end of the academic year.

Classes begin Tuesday, August 26.

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About Utica College – Utica College is a comprehensive private institution offering bachelors, master’s and doctoral degrees. The College, located in Upstate New York, approximately 90 miles west of Albany and 50 miles east of Syracuse, currently enrolls nearly 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 37 undergraduate majors, 27 minors, 16 master’s and two doctoral degree programs.