![]() "Yes, because of your Eastern liberal arts education, you are more likely to engage in acts of civic responsibility." ![]() Furthermore, "you are more likely to vote, more likely to serve in government, more likely to volunteer," she said. While there are many successful individuals without a college education, Núñez pointed to study after study that show higher earning potential and career satisfaction for those who are college educated. ![]() Who dare defy the brilliant and prolific Edison but Albert Einstein, who rebutted, "The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts, but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks."Įven in the early 1900s, Núñez says this anecdote illustrates the attacks on a college education - and particularly a liberal arts education - by "those who believe they did just fine without a college degree." "Draw on your education (during these times), and trust that Eastern has provided you a solid foundation for your future."Įastern President Elsa Núñez opened her remarks with a story about the great American inventor Thomas Edison, who was alleged to have said "a college education is useless." There are twists and turns," he assured graduates. Discovering your purpose doesn't follow a straight path or timeline. Many, like me, won't discover their purpose until later in life. Some of you found your purpose while you were here. "Some of you might have come to Eastern with your purpose in mind. Following began a dynamic career in higher education. "I learned firsthand the transformational impact of higher education."Īfter graduating with a degree in communication, Gibson thought he wanted to be a news anchor and found work at a TV station, but later realized helping people achieve their education goals was his purpose. "My time on campus was instrumental to my life trajectory," he said, reflecting on Eastern's "open and inclusive campus" and his time as a peer tutor and student orientation counselor. Gibson grew up in New Haven and was the first in his family to go to college. "It feels surreal to be standing before you today, for only a short while ago I was sitting where you are," he told the graduates. ![]() Gibson received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at the ceremony. The undergraduate class of 2023 brings the number of living Eastern alumni to approximately 40,000.Īmong those alumni is commencement speaker Thomas Gibson, a 1996 graduate who is now the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The five most popular majors among the graduates are psychology, business administration, health sciences, communication and criminology. The youngest graduate in the class of 2023 is 18 years old, while the oldest is 67. The class also includes 125 division III student athletes. Notably, almost 30 percent of the graduates are the first in their families to earn a bachelor's degree, and approximately 33 percent are students of color. The graduating class of 2023 is a diverse group, hailing from nearly all of Connecticut's 169 towns, 18 other states/territories and 31 foreign countries. Of the 890 undergraduates who received degrees at Eastern's 133rd Commencement Exercises, 540 came from the School of Arts and Sciences and 350 came from the School of Education and Professional Studies. With thousands of supporters cheering in the stands, the event was a momentous occasion for the newest graduates of Connecticut's only public liberal arts university. Optimism and jubilation filled the XL Center in Hartford on May 16 as 890 Eastern Connecticut State University students received their degrees during the University's annual graduation ceremony.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |