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Utica College Holds 59th Commencement Ceremony

Keynote Speaker Urges Graduates to Challenge Orthodoxy

Written By Keith Henry '08

Contact - cleogrande@utica.edu

Utica, NY (05/20/2008) - Utica College held its 59th commencement ceremony at the Utica Memorial Auditorium yesterday, conferring 751 graduate and undergraduate degrees.

Award-winning columnist, television analyst and author Jonathan Alter delivered the commencement address to the class of 2008. A senior editor for Newsweek magazine and a contributing correspondent for NBC News, he appears twice weekly on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann. 

Alter told graduates to be skeptical without being cynical and to be idealistic, yet not ideological. "To be skeptical but idealistic, you need, of course, to vote -- and not just in presidential elections. If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain, which would be no fun, since we all like to complain."

Alter closed his address with advice from Mark Twain. “Always work like you don’t need the money, always fall in love like you’ve never been hurt, always dance like nobody is watching and always – always – live like it’s heaven on earth.”

Bethany C. Politylo of Herkimer, a psychology major, was honored as the class valedictorian and Schenectady native Elise L. Andersen, also a psychology major, was honored as the class salutatorian.

Eugene Corasanti, proponent of higher education, longtime supporter of the college and the community, and founder of ConMed Corporation, was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree. His son accepted the degree on his father’s behalf.

Students completing academic requirements in December 2007 or August 2008 were invited to participate in the ceremonies.