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SUNY Plattsburgh to Hold Commencement Ceremonies Saturday, May 13


PLATTSBURGH, NY __ More than 900 students at the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh are eligible to participate in the two Spring Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 13, at the Field House.

The first ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. for students majoring in programs within the Division of Education, Health and Human Services and the School of Business and Economics. The second ceremony will commence at 2 p.m. for students in the Division of Arts and Science.

The student speaker for the 10 a.m. ceremony will be Jaclyne Demarse-Marcil , from Plattsburgh. Demarse-Marcil is a double major in history and Latin American studies. She is the recipient of the Presidential Scholarship and is a member of Phi Eta Sigma, Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies.

While a student, Demarse-Marcil has played an active role in the College's Model Organization of American States Program, a simulation of the real OAS General Assembly in which students represent the OAS member states through role playing. She also had the opportunity to spend last fall in Washington, D.C., as an intern for the State Department, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

The second ceremony at 2 p.m. will feature student speaker Jannel Gabriel , an environmental science major from St. Lucia in the Caribbean.

Gabriel has been an active member of the Plattsburgh community and has served as a resident assistant in Wilson Hall, a member of Club Caribbean, a tutor with the Clinton County Literacy Volunteers and an on-air personality at the campus radio station, WQKE. She is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Delta Kappa honor societies. She was the recipient of the New York State Women's Farming Association Scholarship.

Several honorary and distinguished awards will also be presented during the ceremonies.

Ronald B. Stafford will be posthumously awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the State University of New York. Senator Stafford, who was elected New York State Senator in 1965, represented the citizens of the 45th Senatorial District until he retired in January 2003 after 37 years in the New York State Senate. He passed away in June 2005. His wife, Kay Stafford, will accept this honor on her late husband's behalf during the morning ceremony.

Dr. John A. Grant III , a 1982 SUNY Plattsburgh graduate, will be awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the State University of New York. Grant is a geologist with the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and a participating scientist with NASA for the Mars Exploration Rover Mission.

Arnold Amell , a 1953 graduate of SUNY Plattsburgh, will be honored during the ceremonies with the Distinguished Service Award, which is presented by the College Council. Amell, the vice-chair of the College Council, was first appointed to the council in May 1989, to fill an unexpired term and was subsequently re-appointed in 1992 and 1999 for seven-year terms.

Also honored during the ceremonies will be Dr. Susan Bauer-Wu , a 1983 SUNY Plattsburgh graduate. She will be presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Bauer-Wu is the director of the Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in Nursing and Patient Care Services at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass. She also holds faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School and the University of Massachusetts.
 
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