SUNY Orange Celebrates 75th Commencement

MIDDLETOWN – Like previous graduation observances sprinkled annually across the College’s history, SUNY Orange’s milestone 75th Commencement ceremony on Thursday (May 22) was a compilation, and celebration, of transformation, with graduates having authored their own unique stories while arriving at Thursday’s cherished event via their own distinctive paths.

There was Abigail “Jakoi” Jamieson, a two-time scholarship winner who aspires to earn a Ph.D. degree in pharmacology. There was 53-year-old Joe Pierro with a bachelor’s degree who initially felt like a square peg in a round hole before being accepted by his younger classmates as he returned to the classrooms of SUNY Orange to pursue a cyber security degree. There was student speaker Brianna Reid who accepted a liberal arts degree Thursday with plans to return to the College for an engineering degree. And then there was Audra Relaford, who is 31 weeks pregnant and raced to the ceremony 90-minutes late due to a morning doctor’s appointment. And many more.

Pending certification of their transcripts, a total of 714 students are in line to complete degree requirements over the recently completed academic year, and more than 450 of them participated in Thursday’s ceremony. In observance of the 75th Commencement, graduates were presented with a commemorative coin marking the event.

Scheduled to be held outdoors on the Alumni Green, Commencement was moved indoors to the Physical Education Center due to rain and unseasonably cool temperatures. Despite the move, an estimated 2,500 friends and family members crowded into the gymnasium. SUNY Orange President Dr. Kristine Young emceed the ceremony, with featured remarks from Reid and Charles Passarotti, assistant professor of architecture. Reid, of Middletown, was a winner of this year’s SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence while Passarotti received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The College was also honored to welcome Dr. Merryl Tisch, chair of the State University of New York Board of Trustees, who offered remarks during her first-ever SUNY Orange Commencement. County Executive Steve Neuhaus attended and addressed the graduates as well. But it was Reid who received the loudest ovation.

“I have been amazed by just how incredibly different, and perfectly made, each and every mind sitting across from me during a study session, or sharing a laugh in between homework sets, all eager to be heard, to share meaningful life experiences, to make a life-long connection,” Reid shared with her classmates. “If no one’s told you, let me be the first to thank you for your intimate moments of storytelling, for adding who YOU are to our world in a way only you can.”

Passarotti opened his speech by thanking some people who have been instrumental in his life’s journey as a student, architect and professor, and then urged the graduates to do the same. “To the graduating class I ask you to thank those who have helped you get here. Thank those who inspire you as role models. Thank those who helped you get out of your own way, or those who taught you to be patient with yourself. Thank those, like my sister, who maybe gave you that ‘swift kick’ that you needed to move forward. Even if they didn’t know it, I’m sure your family, friends, classmates, faculty or staff have impacted you in these ways. So, thank them by going on to greater things and by paying it forward, to believe in yourselves and the importance of what you have accomplished today at SUNY Orange and to use this as a foundation to build something great.”

For the past academic year, the College has been celebrating its 75th anniversary with a series of events designed for students, employees, retirees, alumni and the community-at-large. SUNY Orange will celebrate its 75th birthday on its Founder’s Day (June 9), one day after Young marks her 10th anniversary as the College’s president. She has been championing the College’s anniversary theme, “Transforming Lives for 75 Years” and on Thursday she offered her thoughts on how the graduates may have transformed during their time at the College.

“You have earned a college degree. But that degree is more than a credential. It’s a reflection of how you’ve grown—not only in your area of study, but through the general education core that helped you think critically, question assumptions, and see connections across disciplines and perspectives. Those aren’t just academic exercises. They are how you clarify your purpose,” Young noted. “They are how you lead, how you listen, how you decide what matters and act on it—even when the conditions are murky. That’s what makes your education so powerful.”

Each year, SUNY Orange awards diplomas to students who earn Associate in Arts, Associate in Science and Associate in Applied Science degrees, while presenting graduation certificates to those who complete the College’s various certificate programs.