News
May 11, 2015Saint Rose Commencement Celebrates Students, Determination and Laughter
Honors to Tim Fenton, Sister Anne Bryan Smollin and More than 1,500 Students
It was a day for celebrating outstanding accomplishments, determination of will, decades of service, exceptional futures and the life benefits of laughter.
The College of Saint Rose celebrated its 92nd Annual Commencement today by awarding 1,548 bachelor’s and master’s degrees and certificates of advanced study from its arts and humanities, business, education, and mathematics and sciences schools.
The ceremony was held in the Times Union Center in Albany and attended by more than 700 students.
Tim Fenton, who recently retired as chief operating officer of McDonald’s Corp., received an honorary degree and delivered the Commencement address.
The College also bestowed its highest honor, the Carondelet Medal, posthumously on Sister Anne Bryan Smollin, CSJ, ’66, for her extraordinary service to Saint Rose and the world community.
Saint Rose President Dr. Carolyn J. Stefanco kicked off her first Commencement ceremony as president by urging the graduates to get out of their comfort zones. The first in her family to attend college, Stefanco drew on that background when she encouraged the graduates to remain open to possibilities in themselves for continued growth.
“Listen to your family, friends, graduate school professors, mentors and supervisors at your first post-graduation job. Sometimes they see talents in you that you might not see in yourself. And pay attention to those who have ideas about what you might have the potential to become and to achieve. This is especially important if you are the first person in your family to graduate from college and if you are not sure of your next steps,” she advised.
In his address to the graduates, Fenton, too, encouraged them to take chances and be prepared to seize their “moments,” those times in life when “you’re called upon to shine, to stand out, to make your mark.”
Fenton, who rose from working shifts at a McDonald’s in Utica to serving as the corporation’s COO, used his own experience to discuss the importance of being expansive.
“I know many of you are feeling a touch of uncertainty because you don’t know what comes next,” he said to the graduating students. ”But you’ll find your place if you learn to seize the right moments.”
Fenton noted that he had shown his value as a McDonald’s employee by doing the best job sweeping the floor. From there he learned to adopt an attitude of “yes, how,” over “no, because.”
Fenton also stressed the importance of attitude in all aspects of life.
“Wherever you go in life, what people notice before anything else is your attitude. What’s the weather you bring to the job every day? Is it rainy and dark? Or maybe partly cloudy and indifferent? Or is it always sunny, and are you ready for anything? When you have a positive attitude, you put yourself in the best position to solve problems, find solutions and seize your moment,” advised Fenton.
In awarding its Carondelet Medal to Sister Anne, the College noted that she chose laughter from among the many tools that could be used to provide comfort and motivation. Sister Patricia A. St. John, CSJ, ’79, who accepted the award on behalf of Sister Anne, urged graduates to use their diplomas to find meaning, and seek humanity, in the larger world.
“At the end of every day, the focus of our conversations was on our abundant blessings … and she would urge you to do the same,” said Sister Patricia, a Saint Rose trustee. “And she started each day giving everything she had to a world in need.”
Sister Anne was a beloved member of the Saint Rose community who passed away in September 2014. Throughout her life and particularly as a member of the College’s board of trustees for 17 years, Sister Anne demonstrated the highest ideals of service as a leader who exemplified the qualities and values of the founders of Saint Rose: integrity, respect, determination and loyalty.
The Carondelet Medal, which has now been awarded 11 times, reflects the ideals of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, who founded the College.
Today’s degree recipients hail from 16 states and 22 countries. They join more than 40,000 alumni of Saint Rose living in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and 31 countries.
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The College of Saint Rose (www.strose.edu) is a dynamic, progressive college in the heart of New York’s capital city where teaching is the first priority. With 55 undergraduate programs, nine undergraduate certificates, 37 master’s degrees and 26 graduate certificates, and a mission of service to the urban community, the Saint Rose experience empowers students to improve themselves and the world around them.
