Bethlehem, Pa., May 11, 2016—Moravian College will hold commencement exercises on Saturday, May 14, beginning at 10 a.m., in the outdoor quadrangle behind the Haupert Union Building on the Main Street Campus. The ceremony will conclude the 274th academic year at Moravian, America’s sixth-oldest college, and first school to educate women.
In the event of rain, the program will be held in Johnston Hall. Moravian College President Bryon L. Grigsby ’90 will confer degrees to approximately 410 bachelor’s degree candidates, and 35 graduate degree candidates.
In honor of a longstanding Moravian College tradition, the graduating class elected a student and a faculty member to speak at the commencement ceremony. A graduate student has also been selected to provide remarks.
Gina Gambacorto ’16, an environmental policy and economics major with a minor in management, will serve as the Class Student Speaker for 2016. She is the Training Chair of 26 Points Ambassadors and a First-Year Seminar Student Advisor. Gambacorto, from Philadelphia, Pa., is a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, an international economics honor society, and Pi Sigma Alpha, a national political science honor society.
Masters of Health Administration candidate Bunnary C. Say will speak on behalf of the graduate students. Say operates a floriculture labor consulting company called Wild Orchids Flowers that she started as a college senior at Centenary College.
The graduating class recently elected faculty member Dr. Cecilia M. Fox, to deliver the Statement from the Faculty. Fox is associate professor of biological sciences, and director of neuroscience program at Moravian College. Fox is the recipient of the 2006 Moravian College IMPACT Award for Outstanding Performance and Dedication to the Highest Standards of Excellence and the 2005 Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching. In 2009, Dr. Fox was also awarded the Omicron Delta Kappa Golden Apple Teaching Award. Fox is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Beta Beta Beta Sigma Xi, Society for Neuroscience, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience and Council on Undergraduate Research. In 2009, she founded the Lehigh Valley Society for Neuroscience (LVSfN) Chapter and serves as president of this organization.
The Moravian College baccalaureate service will be held on Friday, May 13, at 5 p.m., in Central Moravian Church, Bethlehem, Pa. The program will include a call to mindfulness, musical offerings, a reading, remarks, student reflection and a charge to the graduates.
After the traditional procession into the church, Jennika M. Borger ’98, ’01, chaplain will share a “Call to Mindfulness” with the Class of 2016. Baccalaureate service will feature a musical offering, “Leaving the Island (2016)” composed and performed by Peter Petrack ’16 (b.1994), along with Frederick Barr ’16, Raymond Craft ’16. A Written Offering will be shared by Jaclyn Hudak ’16.
After a welcome by Carol A. Traupman-Carr ’86, associate provost, a group of students will perform a musical offering by student Kyrie Frederick Barr ’16 (b.1994). Barr will conduct a group of student voices that include: sopranos: Faith Brown, Kayleigh Bennett, Rebekah Brown, Sarah Durham; altos: Emily Miller, Kristen Weaver, Carolyn Cuesta, Jane Spadaccini; tenors: Benjamin Wallace, Kurtis Reif, Andrew Ortega, Nathan Gerheart; and bass: Peter Petrack, Jason Dietrich, Andrew Bainbridge, and Devin Diaz. Accompanying the voices on piano will be Patrick Kerssen.
A number of students will offer “Reflections” on their time at Moravian College, they include: Sidra Naqui ’16, Jessica Reyes ’16 and John Wylie ’16. A Prayer will be follow by Rehab Ghazal, coordinator of global inclusion and member of the Interfaith Council at Moravian.
A “Charge to the Graduates,” will be shared by Nicole L. Loyd, vice president for student affairs and dean of students. The program will conclude with a signing of the alma mater and recessional.
Moravian College encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Michael Wilson by email: wilsonm@moravian.edu, or by phone 610 861-1365.
Moravian College is a private coeducational liberal arts college, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For over 274 years, the Moravian College degree has been based on a liberal arts curriculum where literature, history, cultural values and global issues, ethics, and aesthetic expression and the social sciences are infused with multidisciplinary perspectives.
For more information on Commencement 2016, visit: http://www.moravian.edu/