Pine Manor College

Pine Manor College Awards 75 Degrees at Commencement Ceremonies

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Pine Manor College (PMC) conferred four Master’s Degrees, 70 Bachelor Degrees, and one Associate of Art’s Degree at its 96th commencement ceremonies outdoors on its Chestnut Hill campus on Sunday, May 4, 2008, at 11 AM. It also conferred honorary doctorate degrees on Dr. JudyAnn Rollins Bigby, Secretary of Health and Human Services of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, Constance Hess Williams ’64, Senator, 17th District of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Jacqueline Woodson, an award-winning author.

In her remarks to the graduating seniors, Pine Manor College President Gloria Nemerowicz described the occasion as a day to celebrate “the accomplishments of your College and of your Class of 2008. Your joy, pride, and exuberant spirits are well deserved and are both a celebration and an affirmation of your four long years of growth and achievement” She then went on to say: “However, at this festive time, it is also appropriate to remember those diminished by intolerance, inequality, exclusion, and greed. Over your time here at Pine Manor College you have learned to be inclusive and you have learned to engage with others. Now it is up to you to use this power of inclusiveness to make the world a better place.”

Senior Class Speaker Zakiyyah J. Griffin ’08 shard with her class that she was the first in her family to graduate from college and that she, and many like her in the class, felt the additional pressure to succeed because of the opportunity that had been given them. She told the class “we are all special in our own way,” and ended by admonishing them to “be strong, be proud, be bold.”

Honorary degree recipient Dr. JudyAnn Rollins Bigby welcomed the class to the world and told them that there would be many more doors and many more opportunities for them than they could possibly imagine now. She advised them to” Put aside doubts. Listen to mentors and ignore tormentors and to remember and live the American dream.”

Senator Constance Hess Williams ’64, of the 17th District of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, alumna of Pine Manor College, and former member of the College’s Board of Trustees touched upon how things had changed since her own graduation from the school 44 years ago. She pointed out that life brings change and opportunity and that this year in the political realm the country had the opportunity to possibly see either its first African American president or its first woman president. She ended by advising the graduates to take advantage of every single opportunity that came their way, to grow, and not to hesitate.

Finally, award winning author Jacqueline Woodson advised the class to remember that they were who they were because of the fabulous people who had gone before them, their mothers, their fathers, their grandparents, their aunts, and uncles - everyone who had cared for them and gone out of their way for them.

This year’s women graduating from Pine Manor College received the following Master’s, Bachelor's, and Associate’s degrees: four Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Degrees, 18 Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Biology; nine in Business Administration; 11 in Communication; one in English; two in History; one in Psychology and English; five in Liberal Studies; eight in Psychology; nine in Social and Political Systems; four in Visual Arts, and two in English and Communication, and one Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies.