Dr. Tomás D. Morales ’75
Degrees were conferred to more than 1,900 graduating students at the 2012 Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony held on the Old Main Quad on May 20. During the Graduate Commencement Ceremony on May 18, 605 degrees were conferred.
Danielle Brown ’12 (Education) of Merrick, N.Y., was the class of 2012 valedictorian.
The undergraduate class was addressed by Dr. Tomás D. Morales ’75 (Secondary Education 7-12, Social Studies), president of the College of Staten Island and an alumnus of SUNY New Paltz. Morales, who also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the ceremony, has been an educator and leader in higher education administration for more than 36 years.
Morales was born in Puerto Rico and raised in the South Bronx. He came to New Paltz through the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), a program he would later serve as counselor and then director, and went on to earn his master’s degree and Ph.D. in educational administration and policy studies from SUNY Albany. This summer, Morales will return to the California State University, where he has been selected to lead the campus at San Bernardino as its new president.
Several New Paltz employees and family members were among the graduating class. At the Undergraduate Ceremony, the following family members received degrees: Aimee Bower, daughter of Professor Wendy Bower (Communication Disorders), BS (Childhood Education 1-6); Benjamin E. Campbell, son of Professor Anne Balant-Campbell (Communication Disorders), BFA (Painting); Katherine Shamro, niece of Jane Wood (Development), BA (Spanish); Tim Shuipis, son of Elizabeth Shuipis Records and Registration), BA (Geography), and Victor Poczciwinski, son of Lynne Poczciwinski (Print and Mail Services), BS Early Education. At the Graduate Ceremony, the following employees and family members received degrees: Robert Moysey (Residence Life), MPS (Educational Studies, Humanistic and Multicultural Education); Michelle Quock (Residence Life), MPS (Humanistic-Multicultural Education); Raymond Ransome, (Computer Services, MS (Computer Science); Laura Schultz (Records and Registration), MPS (Humanistic-Multicultural Education); Karen Sumnick (Records and Registration), daughter of Bill Sumnick (Receiving) and Judy Sumnick (retired) and niece of Nancy Valenti (Student Accounts), MPS, (Humanistic-Multicultural Education); Katherine Mary Hanley, daughter of Ed Hanley (Computer Services), MSED (Literacy Education: B – 6).