By VICTORIA ADDISON
Sports Editor
Students and their families gathered in Picotte Recital Hall on Saturday afternoon for the annual Honors Convocation. The ceremony recognized over one hundred undergraduate and graduate students who were given a variety of awards for academic achievement.
After Sister Sean Peters opened the ceremony with a prayer, President Carolyn Stefanco addressed the crowd with a welcome speech. The convocation was Stefanco’s first.
“It is very, very exciting to have this be my first honors convocation. I hope you’re excited about it as well,” Stefanco said.
Stefanco continued to address the crowd on the importance of education and the uniqueness of the St. Rose community.
“Every week I discover something new about the College and it affirms what I experienced in my interviews just over a year ago,” she said. “Saint Rose really is a special place and there is a spirit of community here that is above probably everything else the most special.”
Directly following a speech by Interim Associate Dean of The Huether School of Business Michael Mathews that kept the crowd laughing the entire time, the award portion of the ceremony began.
The first awards were presented by Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Hadi Salavitabar to underclassmen who ranked at the top of their respective classes. Four students were awarded in total, two coming from the Class of 2017.
As for the senior class, two four-year students and a transfer student were awarded the Saint Rose of Lima Award, which recognizes those with the highest grade point average of the class.
Maryssa Capelli, who is a forensic psychology major, was the transfer student recipient.
“After a lot of hard work, it was such a huge honor to receive the Saint Rose of Lima Award,” Capelli said. “It felt great to be amongst the other students being acknowledged for our effort and perseverance.”
The remainder of the ceremony featured the school awards, including those for seniors who rank at the top of their respective departments. Special awards were also given out to various student recipients.
The ceremony also recognized graduate students who rank at the top of their respective programs.
Jennifer Austin, who is a graduate student and has been an adjunct professor at the College since the spring of 2012, was honored for the English MA/MFA program.
“It’s an important moment when hard work and achievements are recognized and rewarded,” Austin said. “I am grateful.”
Austin also received an award in 2011.
“I owe my success to hard work and the talented and accessible professors,” she said. “I try every day to give to my students just as much as I receive from my professors. In my experience, the professors in the English Department, and the visiting writers and professors in the MFA program, are the best, truly. ”
Students whose work was published in The College of Saint Rose Undergraduate Journal were also recognized.
The event was organized by Alma Kanic-Franco, who is the director of the Office of the Provost and a past award winner.
“It is truly one of those events that embodies all the best that Saint Rose has to offer,” Kanic-Franco said.
