Johnson State College Confers 328 Degrees at 2016 Commencement

May 14, 2016

Johnson State College conferred 328 degrees on Saturday, May 14, at the college’s 149th commencement ceremonies. Thousands of family members and friends gathered inside the tent on the campus’s South Lawn overlooking Sterling Ridge to watch undergraduate and graduate students from 15 states and nine countries (Bhutan, Canada, Congo, Japan, Nepal, Tanzania, Trinidad, the United Kingdom and the United States) receive their diplomas. Of the 328 degrees, there were 62 master’s degrees, 252 bachelor’s degrees and 14 were associate’s degrees.

JSC also awarded six certificates, in small business management and nonprofit management, and four certificates of higher education to non-degree students in partnership with the College Steps program. Six certificates, in small business management and nonprofit management, also will be awarded.

This year’s Commencement speaker was Mary Alice McKenzie, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington, who spoke of the college’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness and related it to the work of the Boys & Girls Club with refugees, New Americans and low-income families. Students speakers from the Class of 2016 were Nasser Abdel-Fatah (B.S., Environmental Science), Meghan Fay-McCaffrey (B.A., Professional Studies) and Ginger Irish (M.F.A., Studio Arts).