Rider University Celebrates 143rd Commencement Ceremonies
Joyous celebration and proud smiles reflected the sense of festivity and accomplishment at Rider University’s 143rd Commencement ceremonies on Thursday, May 8, and Friday, May 9, on the Lawrenceville campus. More than 1,300 graduates of the Class of 2008, including 484 graduate and College of Continuing Studies students on Thursday, and 774 undergraduates on Friday, as well as 112 from Westminster Choir College (WCC), joined a distinguished family of some 50,000 Rider University alumni. WCC celebrated its 79th Commencement activities in The Chapel of Princeton University on Saturday, May 10.
To view the Commencement Photo Galleries, click here.
Rider graduates are accomplished men and woman who have made and are making meaningful contributions worldwide, said Dr. Mordechai Rozanski, president of the University.
“I have no doubt that you, too, will achieve significant success and bring great credit to our alumni family,” Rozanski said to the graduating Class of 2008. “My confidence in your future is based in the knowledge that our first-class faculty and staff have educated and prepared you to manage the challenges and opportunities you will encounter as you pursue success in your life and career.”
Justin Pope, who received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Management and Leadership, cum laude, was the class speaker at the Commencement ceremony on Thursday night. Pope described the journey of a post-baccalaureate or Continuing Studies student who juggles the commitments of classes, families and careers.
“Experiencing college and receiving a degree in this manner not only takes true strength, grit and determination and flexibility, but fully equips all of us, graduates, to tackle some of the toughest dilemmas life can bring – mainly because we already have,” Pope said.
Demitrios “Jamie” Papapetros, who received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Political Science, was the class speaker at the undergraduate Commencement ceremony on Friday. He said the graduating class leaves with the wisdom and experiences that have inspired them to wage a war against apathy and the stereotype that young adults are apathetic.
“As a class, we defied that stereotype by adopting a principle by which to live our lives: true leadership is derived from service to others. It’s a lesson that Rider ingrained in us as we took maximum advantage of our days here and became one of the strongest cohorts of cranberry-bleeding students,” Papapetros said, referencing Rider’s official school color. “Tomorrow we take our fight beyond the walls of Rider and into the corporate boardrooms, the classrooms, the newsrooms, the research labs and other places life may take us as we confront the enemy.”
Honorary degrees were conferred upon Christy Stephenson, a 1987 Rider graduate and former president and chief executive officer of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton, N.J., as well as Deborah T. Poritz, the first female Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Stephenson was at RWJ Hamilton for eight years before moving to her current position as a partner in the Philadelphia office of TRG Healthcare, a national healthcare consulting company. Poritz receive her law degree at the age of 40 and rose through the ranks as being the first woman to serve as Attorney General of New Jersey before being named to the state’s high court. Poritz and Stephenson also gave the Commencement Addresses at their respective ceremonies.
Westminster Choir College alumnus John Walker ’73, an Emmy Award-winning senior producer in Music Programming at Public Television’s Thirteen/WNET, delivered the Commencement Address for his alma mater on Saturday. For 24 years, Walker has written and produced the annual From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration, hosted by Walter Cronkite, as well as every Carnegie Hall Opening Night for television. Nova Thomas, an assistant professor of voice at WCC, gave the Charge to the Graduating Class.
In addition to the conferral of degrees, the Rider University Awards for Distinguished Teaching were presented to Dr. Sharon McKool, assistant professor II of undergraduate education; and Dr. Ronald Cook, professor of Entrepreneurial Studies and Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
The University Honors Council also decided to present a special Distinguished Teaching Award posthumously to Dr. David Rebovich, who passed away in October 2007. Rebovich, an associate professor of Political Science and managing director of the Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider at the time of his death, was perhaps New Jersey’s most respected and oft-quoted political pundit. Rider student Melissa Rebovich, who just completed her freshman year, received the award on behalf of her father.
“Dr. Rebovich often ended his classes by saying, ‘I’ll miss you and I love you all.’ This sentiment is certainly one held by the entire Rider community for our beloved colleague, Dr. David Rebovich,” said Dr. Donald Steven, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs.
