Steven James Caione, of Wingdale, earns degree from Clark University
WORCESTER, MA (06/01/2023)– Steven James Caione, of Wingdale, N.Y., received a degree from Clark University during the University’s 119th Commencement exercises on Sunday, May 21. Caione graduated with a Master of Business Administration.
The University awarded 1,300 degrees (590 bachelor’s degrees, 681 master’s degrees, and 29 doctoral degrees) to the Class of 2023 and conferred three honorary degrees in ceremonies that heralded the graduates for their accomplishments, their resilience, and their ambition.
In his opening remarks, President David B. Fithian noted that the undergraduates were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic throughout all four years of their college careers, a collective experience that he said resulted in a more creative and tenacious learning community.
“You became experts in the evolving art of remote learning and navigating uncertainty,” Fithian said. “You experienced a uniquely challenging time in our history, and you proved to be stronger than maybe you even imagined you could be.”
Robert D. Putnam, Malkin Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and author of a number of books examining the decline of community in American Society, including “Bowling Alone” and “The Upswing,” delivered the commencement address. Putnam urged the graduates to seek new ways to bring Americans together across divides of politics, region, race, religion, ethnicity, class, and gender.
“Our country today faces unprecedented political polarization, economic inequality, social fragmentation, and moral self-centeredness, but you – collaborating with others – can reverse those trends,” he said. “Your generation didn’t cause these problems, but only you can lead the way toward a more diverse, more tolerant, more cohesive, more equal society. A society in which rather than shout or shoot at one another, we listen to one another – actually listen.”
Honorary degrees were conferred to Putnam; Ruth Wilson Gilmore, a professor, scholar, and author considered a pioneer in the field of carceral geography and a forceful activist in the prison abolition movement; and Ronald Carter, a legendary jazz bassist, bandleader, Grammy Award winner, and distinguished professor emeritus.
The “transformative power of education” was the theme of remarks by the graduate ceremony student speaker Idriss Laouali Abdou.
“Imagine growing up in a community where you and your friends had dreams you knew were impossible to achieve. That was the reality for me growing up in Niger,” said Abdou, who served as the vice president of the School of Management Student Council and the graduate advisor for Clark’s Caribbean and African Student Association.
“I was fortunate enough to pursue my studies in Morocco and France, and now here in the United States as a Fulbright scholar,” he said. “My personal journey is just one example of how education can change lives. As members of the Clark community, I know that each of you has a story to tell, challenges to overcome, and successes to celebrate.”
In her address to fellow undergraduates, student speaker Glory Phipps, a philosophy major, compared her class’s journey to that of a rose growing from concrete, an analogy inspired by a poem written by the late rapper Tupac Shakur. Phipps spoke about the optimism she and her classmates shared at the start of their Clark experience, and how they persevered during the pandemic.
“We made it through by focusing on our passions. We fought for issues we believed in. We began to use our voices for the greater good,” said Phipps, who served on the Student Council, the Black Student Union, the Latin American Student Organization, and the Mock Trial team. “No matter how many times we were struck down we still got up.”
That perseverance, President Fithian said, is why the world needs Clarkies.
“Today’s world needs minds that can understand a variety of perspectives. Today’s world needs those who value research-based and evidence-informed solutions to complex problems. Today’s world needs individuals who aren’t afraid to be themselves, and who aren’t afraid to challenge convention,” he said.
“Today’s world needs you.”
For more coverage of Clark’s Commencement, visit the web.
Founded in 1887, Clark University is a liberal arts-based research university that prepares its students to meet tomorrow’s most daunting challenges and embrace its greatest opportunities. Through 33 undergraduate majors, more than 30 advanced degree programs, and nationally recognized community partnerships, Clark fuses rigorous scholarship with authentic world and workplace experiences that empower our students to pursue lives and careers of meaning and consequence.
www.clarku.edu
