Commencement Scheduled for May 17

Nearly
900 two-and four-year graduates, their families, professors, and friends will
be on hand Sunday, May 17, at noon, as Alfred State College honors its 98^th
graduating class.

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

The ceremony will be
held at McLane Center on the neighboring Alfred University campus. Graduates
will need to use the tickets in their graduation packets for their families'
admission.

The 2009 student
speaker will be Tracey Parks, Fillmore, who is scheduled to receive her
associate in applied science degree in nursing at the May 17 ceremony. 
She is also one of the four Paul B Orvis Award for Excellence winners. This
award is presented to the outstanding two-year graduates in each of the
college's schools of study, as well as to a baccalaureate graduate. The award
honors Paul B. Orvis, a former president of Alfred State and State University
of New York dean for two-year colleges.  Recipients must meet four
criteria:  service, leadership, character, and scholarship.  Faculty,
staff, and fellow students appraise the first three.  Scholarship is
determined by an analysis of the student's academic standing in comparison to
other students in the academic area. 

Parks is a member of
Phi Theta Kappa, a recipient of the Robert J. Love Award, the Hunter Family
Scholarship, and a Salvation Army Scholarship.  She has maintained a 4.0
grade point average (out of a possible 4.0).  This non-traditional student
(she holds a BA from Houghton College in psychology and art, holds
certifications in dispute resolution and heavy equipment operation, and a NYS
hairdressing license) worked as a paralegal and serves as a literacy
volunteer.  She is the daughter of Hudson and Mary Jane Parks, Caneadea.

Giving the welcome from students is Adam Nash, a senior in the surveying engineering
technology program.  Nash was born and
raised in Barneveld, graduating from Holland Patent High School in 2005. 
He has been a member of the swim team and the club hockey team at ASC.  He
has also held the position of the president of the Surveying Club, president of
Braddon
Hall
Council, Student Senate Student Activities chair, and APB honorary board
member. For the past year, he has served as the Student Senate president and
co-captain of the club hockey team.

This year, an honorary doctor of humane letters degree will be conferred upon
B. Thomas Golisano, a 1962 graduate of Alfred State College, who will also
address the students.

Golisano, a self-made
billionaire, is widely known for his business acumen, his philanthropy, and his
interest in government, particularly that of New York State.

Golisano founded Paychex in 1971 with $3,000 and an idea about how to make
payroll outsourcing easy and affordable for small businesses; he is chairman of the Board of the Company. Until October 2004, he served as
president and chief executive officer.  Paychex began with one employee and 40
clients. Today, Paychex serves more than 500,000 clients from over 100 locations
across the United States and employs more than 12,000 people.

Paychex and Golisano
have received numerous national honors over the years. In 2009, the company was
recognized for a sixth year by FORTUNE magazine as one of the "100 Best
Companies to Work For" in America.   Paychex has also been
recognized by Training magazine as one of the top 100 training organizations in
the country, FORTUNE has named Paychex one of the most admired companies in the
country, and Forbes honored Paychex as one of the best-managed companies in
America.

The Irondequoit native is a member of the board of
directors of several private companies, and he serves on the board of trustees
of the Rochester Institute of Technology. He owns the Buffalo Sabres hockey
team and the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team. Golisano has served as a member of
the board of directors of numerous non-profit organizations, and founded the B.
Thomas Golisano Foundation in 1986 to provide grants to organizations serving
persons with disabilities.

Golisano has also made major donations to leading health
care and educational centers. 
Golisano has also
been a major underwriter of former President William Clinton's Global
Initiative.

The
Alfred State College alumnus has served on the college's
Development Fund Board as an honorary member and
was a sponsor of the ASC Entrepreneurship Program, established in
1998.

Golisano is a founder
of the Independence Party of New York State and has run for governor of New
York as that party's candidate three times. In 2008, Golisano formed a PAC called
Responsible New York, to support candidates for the New York state legislature.
The goal of Responsible New York is to guide true political reform in the state
and to return government to the people.

Stephen B. Richard, an
instructor in the Building Trades Department at Alfred State College and pastor
of Chenunda Creek Fellowship Church, will give the invocation and
benediction.