Business Graduate to Speak at SUNY Plattsburgh Commencement

May 13, 2013

A senior graduating with four majors and one minor will serve as the speaker when SUNY Plattsburgh hosts its annual spring commencement ceremonies at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18, in the college's Field House.

Accounting, finance, business and hotel, restaurant and tourism major and economics minor Emma Puglisi will apply the language of the business field when she takes the stage and discusses the value of an education in both personal and financial terms. She will speak at both the a.m. ceremony honoring the graduates in education, health and human services and the School of Business and Economics and the p.m. ceremony, honoring arts and science graduates.

Puglisi, who is graduating magna cum laude, has served as a tutor; an admissions ambassador; a teaching assistant; president of the Honors Student Association; president and treasurer of Eta Sigma Delta International Hospitality Management Society; a member of the Executive Honors Council and Beta Sigma Gamma, the international business honor society; and an advocate for accounting majors on both the advisory committee to the dean of the School of Business and Economics and the Strategic Planning Committee for the assessment of the SBE — and is still managing to graduate in four years.

She held an internship last summer with Accounting Solutions of New York Inc. in which she played the role of interim finance manager, performing bookkeeping and audit preparation for charter schools and non-profits. This led to a job offer, which she has accepted. Starting this summer, she will serve as a junior consultant with the company.

Both ceremonies will also recognize two Distinguished Service Award Winners: Cheryl Hogle and William Laundry.

Cheryl Hogle earned her undergraduate degree in liberal arts from SUNY Plattsburgh in 1968 and her graduate degree in college and agency counseling four years later. During that time, she served the college as a resident assistant and residence hall director. In 1967, she became the first woman to serve as president of the Student Association.

Her work in residence life led to a career as associate director of residence life and then associate dean of students. Hogle oversaw the selection, training and supervision of those staff members, embracing the philosophy of “once an RA, always an RA.” As a result, the individuals who served under her have remained loyal and engaged alumni, often citing Hogle with having changed their lives.

Hogle was actively involved in Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society. First she helped bring a local circle to SUNY Plattsburgh. Then, she served at the national level as its first female president from 1998 to 2002.

Additionally, Hogle received the Chancellor’s Award for Professional Service in 1987, was named to the Plattsburgh College Foundation Investment Committee in 1998 and received the Faculty/Staff Impact Award from the Plattsburgh Alumni Association. In 2006, a residence hall courtyard was named the Cheryl M. Hogle Courtyard. And in 2008, the second-highest award given by ODK was re-named the Cheryl M. Hogle Distinguished Service Award.

In 1998, Hogle retired from SUNY Plattsburgh as associate dean of students and became executive director of College Auxiliary Services, a position she held until her second career retirement in 2001. She resides in Pensacola, Fla., with her spouse, Beverly Hodge.

Laundry, SUNY Plattsburgh vice president emeritus of student affairs, started his long career in residence life at the college as housing director in 1969. Since then, he has served as director of residence life, director of campus life, dean of students, associate vice president for student affairs and, most recently, vice president for student affairs.

He has been involved in many college-wide committees and has served as adviser to the Student Association Finance Board and as a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. He has also served on the Plattsburgh Campus-Community Partnership since its inception.

In addition, he is active in the community and has served as secretary of the AuSable Forks Alumni Association and the board of directors for the Plattsburgh Credit Union; member of the Hawkeye Conservationists; vice president of the Clinton County Historical Association; member of the Plattsburgh Memorial Chapel Board of Directors; and a marriage officer for the City of Plattsburgh. He also performed as an actor with Plattsburgh Little Theater.

In 2005, Laundry was the seventh person in the college’s history to be honored as an honorary alumnus, and, in October 2006, he had the Student Association suite named after him. Laundry was recently presented with a key to the City of Plattsburgh by Mayor Donald Kasprzak.