Fordham Celebrates the Class of 2014
May 20, 2014
By TYLER MARTINS & IAN McKENNA
Editor-in-Chief & Features Co-Editor/Multimedia Co-Producer
Published: May 20, 2014
On Saturday, May 17, the 169th Commencement Ceremony of Fordham University took place at Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH). Families and friends gathered in front of Keating Hall for the commencement, which began with the traditional ringing of the Victory Bell, first rung by President Harry S. Truman in 1946.
Fordham University Provost Stephen Freedman resided as Master of Ceremonies, which saw honorary degrees conferred upon Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and former Yankees player Constantino “Tino” Martinez, who was the keynote speaker.
“We welcome you back to the borough of your youth. We are proud of you,” Fordham President Joseph McShane, S.J. said when conferring Justice Sotomayor with her honorary degree. McShane then presented Sotomayor with a monogrammed baseball from Martinez. In turn, Martinez received an autographed copy of Sotomayor’s book, “My Beloved World.”
The University awarded honorary doctorates of laws to United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Judge Denny Chin, Fordham Law (LAW) ’78. Fordham trustee Stephen E. Bepler, FCRH ’64, Yvonne Cagle, Sister Mary Alice Hannan, O.P., Nemir Kirdar, Graduate School of Business Administration (GBA) ’72 and Reynold Levy also received honorary doctorates in humane letters, alongside Martinez.
“Go out and swing for the fences,” Martinez said in his commencement speech to the graduates.
“You are grace to us,” McShane said, delivering the final remarks of the Commencement ceremony, preceding each college’s diploma ceremony.
The diploma ceremony for students of Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) took place on the lawn of Walsh Library. “Congratulations. You have done it. You didn’t do it alone,” Rev. Robert R. Grimes, S.J., dean of FCLC said, leading the graduates in applause for their families. “Relish it. Cherish it. Put aside your fears.”
“Faculty of Fordham,” Grimes said, concluding FCLC’s Diploma Ceremony, “let us congratulate our newest alumni.”
The Observer partnered with Fordham Compliments to create this love letter for the FCLC Class of 2014.
Anne Latina-Brown • May 25, 2014 at 11:22 am
VERY disappointing speakers and honorees after 4 years of hard work, extreme sacrifices of not only money but distance, and increasingly competitive nature of getting into college.
NYU (used as a standard for by many of us for a college if-you-can-pay-you-can-get-in, bad manners, tacky behavior, and for-profit college) had Mo Rivera, a Yankee who’s GOT something to say, and Aretha Franklin, to say nothing of having the chairwoman of the Federal Reserve as speaker.
Fordham: what was missing? R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Very disappointing.
ALB