Commencement 2008

Some 900 two- and four-year graduates, their families, professors, and friends will be on hand Sunday, May 18, at noon, as Alfred State College honors its 97^th graduating class.

Presiding over the ceremony will be Dr. John M. Anderson, college president.

The ceremony will be held outdoors on the Alfred State College campus, in the Townhouse parking lot.  Should the weather predictions force moving the ceremony indoors, the ceremony will be moved to McLane Center at neighboring Alfred University.  (This decision will be made by the Tuesday prior to commencement.) Graduates will need to use the tickets in their graduation packets for their families' admission.

The 2008 student speaker will be Jennifer Lorow, Angelica, who is scheduled to receive her associate's degree in the liberal arts and sciences: humanities curriculum, May 18.  Lorow has served as a student ambassador and head tour guide for the ASC Admissions Office; as co-editor of Ergo, the student literary magazine; as contributing writer to the student newspaper Tor-Echo; and is a member of the International Club.  She is a member of Phi Theta Kappa honor society and a recipient of the Eleanor Graves Memorial Scholarship, which is given to an outstanding student in the School of Arts and Sciences, as exemplified by character, citizenship, involvement in college community activities, and scholarship.

The Genesee Valley Central School graduate (who also attended Marathon High School in the Florida Keys, and Titusville High School in Titusville, FL), is the daughter of Michael Lorow, Angelica, and Lou Ann Thurston, Titusville.  She is the granddaughter of Betty Whitehouse, Titusville.

Giving the welcome from students is Dustin Fabian, Frewsburg, who will receive his bachelor's degree in financial planning (BBA) at Alfred State.  He has served as president of Greek Senate; he has also served as president and pledge master of his fraternity, Gamma Theta Gamma.  Fabian has worked as orientation coordinator.  For the past year, he has served as the Student Senate president. 

This year, an honorary doctor of science degree will be conferred upon Amory Houghton, Jr., who will also address the students.

Hon. Amo Houghton has served as a United States Representative from the State of New York, 29th Congressional District. Hon. Houghton was a member of the House Ways and Means Committee; chaired the Oversight Subcommittee and was a member of the Trade Subcommittee. He was also a member of the International Relations Committee, vice chairman of its Subcommittee on Africa, and was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the Congressional Delegate to the 58^thGeneral Assembly of the United Nations. Hon. Houghton is the founder of the John Quincy Adams Society, an issues forum which brings together moderate office holders with top business leaders, and is also a founding member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, which seeks to strengthen the political center. He was also co-chairman of the Washington-based Faith and Politics Institute. The only former CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation to serve in the House, Hon. Houghton joined Corning Glass Works (now Corning Inc.) in 1951 after graduating from Harvard University and serving as a Marine during World War II. The Almanac of American Politicssaid of Hon. Houghton: "He may well be more what the Founding Fathers had in mind..." as the ideal congressman. In 2002, Hon. Houghton was inducted into the Academy of Arts and Sciences, the group founded by John Adams and John Hancock in 1780, "dedicated to advancing intellectual thought and constructive action in American society."

Before entering Congress, Hon. Houghton served on the boards of several major corporations, including Procter & Gamble, IBM, Citicorp, N.Y. Telephone, B. F. Goodrich, and Genentech. Appointed by President Reagan to the Grace Commission in 1982, he served as the panel's vice-chairman. He is a former trustee of St. Paul's School, the Brookings Institution, a former member of the Harvard Board of Overseers, a past director of the Episcopal Theological Seminary, and holds 16 honorary degrees. He now serves as a Board member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, co-chair of the Committee for the Future - a group committed to the economic revival of upstate New York - and is a special intern for Bishop Tom Shaw of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.

Rev. Dr. James J. Tucker, III, Pastor, Church of God in Christ, Buffalo, and father of James J. Tucker, IV, a graduating senior in the culinary arts: baking, production and management curriculum, will give the invocation and benediction.