University of New Haven - Pompea College of Business

[Music] [Music] graduates i am pleased to welcome you and your family and friends to today's virtual commencement celebration while i wish we could gather in person for our traditional commencement festivities i am pleased to be with you virtually to celebrate our graduates and their achievements and in particular to recognize the resolve and determination benjamin israeli the 19th century british statesman and novelist once said there is no education like adversity graduates you learn this lesson firsthand and over the last year in the midst of a global pandemic you have successfully navigated the rigors of higher education and have emerged stronger and wiser and better equipped to tackle the complex issues of our world some of you while pursuing your degrees also are on the front lines of the pandemic serving as first responders or as health care professionals you are the true heroes of this pandemic and we are enormously grateful to you for your devoted service one such individual victoria fidak accepts her master's degree in emergency management she had been a certified emt only for a few months when the pandemic started she credits the support she received from her classmates and professors for helping her to persevere she will continue to help protect the public from kova 19 as she was recently named the public health emergency preparedness coordinator for the quinnipiac valley health district another graduate sophia walsh who accepts her master of health care administration helped ensure covert 19 testing for associates and implemented contact tracing procedures as part of her internship at benchmark senior living in hampden passionate about working with residents who suffer from dementia she now works as program coordinator for the facilities memory care community what has been most inspiring is how our graduates embrace the challenge of learning and working in ways many of us never imagined and how they persevered and succeeded under the most trying circumstances take emily moore jesse a member of our honors program who also earned her bachelor's degree in only 3.5 years she is excited to dedicate her life to sharing her passion for science with others a biology major she served as a microbiology lab assistant conducted extensive field research and served as the president of the tribe betta biology honor society she is currently applying to graduate programs in biology education and there is julian larusso who had already earned two master's degrees including one in mechanical engineering from mit and worked for more than 40 years as an engineer before returning to the classroom to pursue a master's degree in emergency management as part of his thesis he researched the potential impact an electromagnetic pulse would have on our nation's critical infrastructure including transportation systems he also examined ways to reduce risks for vehicles delivering emergency services and supplies to the public in the aftermath of such an attack his commitment to being a lifelong learner truly is an inspiration these are but a few stories of those who excelled in and out of the classroom each of our graduates should take great pride as our future leaders graduates you each have a responsibility one that i encourage you to take very seriously to be socially conscious empathetic and caring individuals i'm confident that you will make your mark on society as nelson mandela once said education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world i challenge you to be innovators and to have an impact beyond what any of us can envision use the knowledge you acquired and the experiences you gained to approach all of your future endeavors with a conviction to leave this planet better than it is today for future generations i hope that as you begin the next chapter in your lives that you will remain connected to your alma mater and that you will take great pride in a lifelong affiliation with the university what gives me great hope is that like the graduates who came before you you are equipped with the skills to address the issues that confront us and the problems that we as a society will face in the future i offer you my heartfelt congratulations and my best wishes for wherever life takes you above all i hope you will never forget once a charger always a charger i am now pleased to introduce daniel kriakowski who is a finance major and will offer remarks on behalf of the undergraduate student body class of fall 2020 we made it and what a journey it has been before i go on any further i would like to note that i have no idea how in the world i got chosen to be a speaker at today's graduation i guess all those ramen noodle meals early morning classes hours spent looking for parky on campus and emails asking professors for deadline extensions really paid off however when i was asked to write this speech about three weeks ago i couldn't be more appreciative of the opportunity and i knew i couldn't let everyone at graduation down so just like any term paper or project we've had an entire semester to work on i got right to the drawing board and i started working on it the night before it was due i drank four red bulls stayed up all night hit a mental wall three times submitted my speech 30 seconds before the deadline and subsequently ruined my sleep schedule for the entire week i know this is not the picture we all had in our minds when we thought of our big college graduations three plus years ago as first year students none of us thought we would be in the middle of a global pandemic and wearing masks everywhere we go none of us thought we would be taking classes on zoom for the last semester and a half none of us thought we would be watching our graduation from a tv or a laptop however while we might not have pictured it this way we did picture graduating with a hard-earned degree and that's exactly what we all accomplished our time at the university of new haven has helped us grow and learn grow as students friends interns leaders teammates researchers and so much more and learn about ourselves who we are and who we want to be in the future one of the most important things i learned as an undergraduate here at university of new haven especially over the last year is to never take anything for granted and to appreciate all the small things in life let's appreciate that we can graduate from the comfort of our homes with our loved ones right by our sides let's appreciate that we don't have to find parking on campus because that is one of life's most difficult tasks let's appreciate all the memories we've made during our time here and finally my fellow graduates appreciate all the work you have done to get those bachelor's and master's degrees i can sit here and try and think of a clever motivational quote to end off on and pretend i know what i'm doing or i'm talking about but truth is i know just about motivation as a two-year-old but what i do know is that we are all here to embark on a journey of our lifetimes and start writing a brand new chapter of our lives to those graduates that know exactly what their next step is congratulations you have worked hard for this moment and the fruits of your labor will soon begin to manifest to those many graduates who may not know exactly what you want to do it's okay your journey is just beginning so enjoy and trust the process and in due time your purpose will become clear thank you and congratulations once again for class of 2020. thank you daniel i would now like to welcome rose keithan the president of the graduate student council who is graduating with a master's of business administration and will offer remarks on behalf of the graduate student body congratulations class of 2020 thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak today as a student body and as a community over the past year we have endured insurmountable odds including the loss of financial stability the inability to see friends and family and even the heartbreaking loss of loved ones despite all this we are still here fighting for our education we have graduates who have flown over 24 hours to obtain their degree we have graduates that work full time while supporting a family and we have graduates that have moved here to be in a more accepting community and we also have graduates who have lost loved ones here today from coven 19. and yet again day in and day out the students at the university of new haven continue to push ahead become resourceful and find new ways to achieve their goals i've seen firsthand an adaption to a new set of norms that entrusts our future to inventive scholars like ourself professor degos took these values and directly used them in our online classroom on days where the last thing i wanted to do was spend three hours on zoom and just hide behind my screen he encouraged anyone with their camera off to engage in the class because of his new set of norms he sat in our zoom classroom my education wasn't jeopardized the unh community is no different continually evolving to set new standards for high quality education we motivate ourselves to understand the material despite all the opposing forces surrounding us each day open 19 is just another hurdle our community will overcome and adapt to but it has also given us great valuable lessons on experiences that we may have never learned without it because of this past year it was our community that taught me the difference between hearing someone and actively listening to them i implore you after graduation to continue to express your concerns stand up against any wrongs ask for help and most importantly make your voices heard hard times are undoubtedly upon us but it is up to us to make the most of it and move forward best put by vivian greene life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass it's about learning how to dance in the rain thank you and good luck to our new graduates i now have the honor of introducing our keynote speaker dr susan frampton the president of planetary international a leading non-profit that works with organizations around the world to promote patient centered care as a model for improving the quality of health care dr frampton has been named by health leaders magazine as one of 20 people who make health care better a medical anthropologist she is the vice chair of the world health organization's health promoting hospitals network governance board in 2019 the university school of health sciences became one of the first in the united states to pursue higher education certification from planetary international it gives me great pleasure to introduce dr susan frampton thank you president kaplan this is such a gift and it's with real pleasure that i accept this honorary doctorate not only for myself but on behalf of so many of my colleagues over the years who've worked alongside me to advocate for the rights of patients and their families and caregivers i'm even more honored to be with all of you for this milestone in your personal and professional journeys for a ceremony that celebrates your hard work and accomplishments and while we would all prefer to be together in person for this celebration if there's one thing we've learned over the past year it's been the importance of being flexible and creative and how we continue to connect with one another in safe and responsible ways but this hasn't been easy in fact when i think of each of you and the challenge of completing this milestone in your education it strikes me that you're graduating during a truly unprecedented moment in history a once in a lifetime or perhaps once in many lifetimes crossroad that not only our country but the world around us finds itself at you concluded your studies in a year that many would say has been the worst year ever how many times have we heard our friends and family say i can't wait for 2020 to be over but think about this you will never forget this year or this moment in time you will tell your children and grandchildren about the year 2020 about a deadly pandemic that spread to every corner of our planet that required people to wear masks wherever they went you'll describe to them just how far six feet of social distance can feel what zoom fatigue meant and how weary everyone grew of the reminder you're on mute you'll tell them about this virtual commencement ceremony made necessary just to keep everyone safe and about the perfect storm that our nation was going through the year that you finished your degree not only a pandemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of our families and friends but a social justice uprising seeking recognition of hundreds of thousands of other lives that have been impacted through the years based on the inequities woven through our countries institutions and policies a year in which our country alone racked up a record number of extreme weather events from droughts and wildfires to cyclones and hurricanes 16 in total compared to the 30-year average of six to seven annual events and to top it all off perhaps the most divisive presidential election the united states has experienced since lincoln faced off against general george mcclellan in 1864. note this has not been an easy time this has not been an easy year and i imagine you'll not likely forget 2020 anytime soon but through all of this with these incredible challenges swirling around you you somehow stay focused you stayed committed to your studies and to completing your degree so that you can go out into this world more equipped and ready to use what you've learned to make this a better place you are an awesome resilient group of human beings your families must be so proud of each of you and now you're expected to chart your course for what we all hope will be a better future at this time of continuing challenge and uncertainty more will be asked of you than other graduating classes because while there is a light at the end of this tunnel we find ourselves in we're still in the tunnel as the covid19 virus continues to fill our hospitals the divisiveness of our national politics continues to impact the workings of our democracy social unrest continues to rock many of our communities and climate change continues to disturb the very planetary systems we rely on for a healthy sustainable future we will need your energy and your light to pull our country through this tunnel and out the other end because we cannot rely on the generations that created many of these problems to solve them we will need to look to you and so today i appeal to you to your inner drive and dedication the very things that have gotten you to where you are today to the singular achievement that against all the odds you've persevered and made happen i appeal to your energy your resilience and i ask that you not give into fear not given to anger or distrust at a time when it would be understandable to feel these things i ask that you look ahead for inspiration instead can you guess what one of the first things is that people do when they're invited to give a commencement address they go online and they look at the most inspirational quotes of all time to sprinkle into their comments at just the right point so yes i did that too and i chose this one that i thought was relevant particularly at this moment don't wish it were easier don't wish it were easier easier isn't necessarily better and easier doesn't necessarily bring out the best in people and besides we are not living in easy times now anyway so we all may as well deal with the fact that this is a time that demands more of each of us this is an unprecedented time that challenges each of us to focus not on those things we can't do because of present circumstances but on those things we can do some of you may be familiar with one of gandhi's often quoted sayings be the change you want to see in the world this is your opportunity to be a force for positive change when the world needs that more than ever i do believe in the power of one person to change the world maybe not necessarily on a global scale always like a gandhi but each of us each of you has an unusual opportunity to be a force for good in a world that desperately needs you and your contributions you may be wondering how do i bring out my inner gandhi look around you and you'll find both inspiration and a call for compassion look to our fellow citizens who have literally put their lives on the line including over 1500 health care workers who died this past year as they sought to provide care to patients with coven 19 before we fully understood how to protect them from the virus they too faced unimaginable situations and remained committed to the greater good to their patients even when it put them at significant risk they are an inspiration and look to the families of coronavirus victims with compassion many of whom have had to deal with the grief of not being at the side of loved ones in hospitals and nursing homes in their final days and hours unable to provide the simple comfort that the presence of a familiar human being brings struggling now to deal with such loss and continue on with their lives look to the many coded positive patients who chose to forego life-sustaining care in exchange for the healing presence of their families a decision no one should ever have to make but these are unprecedented times that have required incredibly difficult choices i know that some of you have completed degrees in the health sciences and you will have opportunities to contribute your skills and your knowledge to healing to the health and well-being of your friends families and communities and if you're looking for additional inspiration look to those who have used their first amendment right to free speech thoughtfully and responsibly finding constructive ways to make their voices heard supporting needed social change as they strive to create a more fair just and equitable society that extends the same rights and opportunities to everyone regardless of their race gender or national origin i know that many of you have completed degrees in criminal justice in forensic science your knowledge and expertise will be needed more than ever as our nation strives to chart a course for the future you will have opportunities to make a difference to right wrongs to help us find a path to what our declaration of independence set out as a core aspiration of the experiment that became the united states that all people are created equal that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness and if you're looking for still more inspiration look to the innovators who are finding ways to protect both the health of our planet and the strength of our economies who are pioneering new approaches to renewable technologies and redefining what it means to be a good corporate citizen some of you have completed degrees in engineering and business and you will have opportunities to find new ways to help the world run as efficiently effectively responsibly and cleanly as possible and finally if you're looking for inspiration look to the record-breaking 160 million americans who voted in 2020 22 million more than just four years earlier and the largest number in the history of our presidential elections i know that some of you have completed degrees in national security in psychology and you'll have opportunities to influence the way our country works in the future to ensure that our society is safe that our democracy survives and thrives and that people have access to factual information so that they may make informed decisions so yes this past year has been a whirlwind at times very sad very challenging sometimes disturbing and yes some of us have flirted with the idea of moving to canada but it's also been an opportunity to step up and be heard to step up and be helpful to step up and be counted and so you each now have both the opportunity and responsibility to write the next chapter not only for yourself as an individual but also for our country as we look to our collective future you can stay in the tunnel of gloom or you can choose to be a force for positive change the final line of one of my all-time favorite poems by mary oliver asks what will you do with this one wild and beautiful life you are embarking on the next chapter of your one wild and beautiful life you get to decide how you spend your precious time spend it well spend it wisely have the courage to pursue your dreams even in the face of adversity even at one of the most difficult times in recent history lend your talents and your energy and your gifts to making 2021 and beyond memorable for the progress we make in ending this pandemic for the progress we make to improve equity and social justice and for finding creative ways to better care for our planet and for one another and so today i join your families and friends and congratulating you for your educational accomplishment we're depending on you to go out into the world and help make things better and for just a little while longer to wear your mask while you do that thank you thank you susan for your thought-provoking and poignant remarks it is now my privilege to present you with an honorary degree susan frampton visionary health care leader international expert on person-centered care passionate patient rights activist as a medical anthropologist you have dedicated your life to implementing comprehensive patient-centered models of care as a way to improve the quality of health care the author of three additions of putting patients first best practices in patient-centered care you have developed a critical resource that the founder of a leading international healthcare charity described as a way to revolutionize the work of health care professionals and provide far more satisfaction in their work as the president of plaintree international for more than 20 years you have helped the first patient-centered care organization in the u.s create a global model for enriching and strengthening health care practices your work as chair of the national academy of medicine led to a groundbreaking framework for patient and family engaged care you put it best when you say at heart we are people caring for people through your advocacy you truly are an exemplary role model for our students susan frampton in recognition of your leadership and enriching and transforming how health care is delivered the university of new haven is proud to confer upon you the degree of doctor of humane arts and letters honoris causa susan frampton by virtue of the authority vested in me by our board of governors i am pleased to confer upon you the degree of doctor of humane letters honoris causa congratulations it is now my privilege to present retired colonel merrill tangestell with an honorary degree meryl tengustall trailblazing pilot decorated military officer inspirational leader you have said you were raised to believe there are no limits on what you could accomplish in every way you have embraced this mindset as a student at the university of new haven in the early 1990s you were one of only three women in your graduating class to earn a degree in electrical engineering following missions in the middle east south america and the caribbean and serving as an instructor pilot you joined the air force's youtube program and took on a courageous new challenge you became the first and only african american woman to fly the u2 spy plane a high altitude aircraft used for reconnaissance missions that has been called the most difficult plane in the world to fly i wanted to challenge myself in ways that had never been done you said don't let anyone tell you that it's too hard you truly exemplify excellence and empower others to accomplish more than they ever thought possible merrill tengustal in recognition of your pioneering career and the far-reaching impact you have had in helping others soar to new heights the university of new haven is proud to confer upon you the degree of doctor of engineering honoris causa colonel merrill tangestel by virtue of the authority vested in me by your board of governors i am pleased to confer upon you the degree of doctor of engineering honoris causa congratulations good morning ladies and gentlemen president kaplan susan the graduates i am deeply honored and moved by such a wonderful gesture of an honorary doctorate degree in engineering by a university that's done so much for me in helping me shape my career when i was asked to give a few words i'll be honest i struggled to find something meaningful to say because it's been one hell of a year a year that has strained every facet of our lives from the global effects of covet to domestic events that have made people take to the streets in frustration anger and fear to a 2020 election that still has all of us shaking our heads i can understand why some of us feel lost helpless and incredibly uncertain of what the future may hold i'm sure our situation will get better but i'm not able to tell you when that may occur what i can tell you is all these things that are happening to us has allowed us to become more introspective and realize that we cannot continue on the current trajectory and be successful these sequences of events have created an appetite of change across the world and for each of us and that's where you come in as an individual with a fresh perspective creative ideas and new skill sets cultivated by your time at unh i remember being pushed by my mentor the late professor morrison to be better than i thought i was he always challenged me to set my own course and not drift upon the waves so i challenge you in this dynamic environment to help shape a positive future by creating innovative solutions to help others thrive during this period you may feel that you're not ready for this but trust me you are sitting around hoping things will change for the better is not a good strategy using the determination and drive that help you succeed here at unh will bring that challenge and hope to others through whatever endeavors you choose as your life's passion at first i doubted that i could make much of an impact however i found that as long as i kept moving along the path the act in itself created change hope and opportunity not only for myself but for others around me and this is what i want for you so thank you very much for a moment to share my thoughts with you i'm sure you will continue to carry on traditions of unh thank you meryl you truly are an inspiration for our students we will now hear from the deans of our academic colleges who will present the individual candidates for their degrees thank you president kaplan it is my distinct honor and privilege to congratulate you on becoming a graduate of the pompeii college of business as a graduate of the newly named pompey college of business you will always hold a special place in our rich history the transformational support of the pompeii family greatly strengthens the value of your degree most importantly it is a clear indication of their overwhelming confidence that you will proudly represent the university of new haven our college of business and the pompeii family name and all your future endeavors although the final year of your college journey was particularly challenging each of you should be proud of what you achieved in the commitment that you have demonstrated you leaned in you quickly adapted to change you demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity and you successfully completed the requirements of your business degree program for many pompei college of business graduates a terrific example of this is your shared live client experience or slice capstone project working with either savant or webster bank you managed to collaboratively work in remote teams to successfully address their business problem and in doing so you demonstrated a mastery of the skills and traits that are required by employers in the new world of business although you will enter a challenging labor market know that you've earned skills that differentiate you from your colleagues that graduated in years past the faculty of the pompei college of business believes that your academic preparations combined with your grit will serve you well and will give you an edge as you navigate the weeks and years ahead and you will hear from several pompeii college of business faculty shortly again graduates we are proud of all that you have accomplished congratulations on this important milestone in your life and forever go chargers congratulations to all of our december 2020 university of new haven business school graduates you have persevered you have been optimistic and you have been determined as you went through a very difficult final year here at new haven those traits will serve you well in the corporate world please hold on to them hi graduates i wanted to drop in to say congratulations on such a huge accomplishment i want you to know that this is a big step for you and realize that a degree or a diploma is not just a piece of paper but it's recognition of your hard work your dedication and it also serves as the wings for you to fly into your future and so during your time at university of new haven you dreamt you planned you believed you did all those assignments all of those final exams and here we are today you conquered but get ready for a whole new adventure so this chapter in your academic journey may have ended but remember another one starts tomorrow as you venture off to achieve even more of your dreams and so we the pompeii college of business family we want to say congratulations we wish you warm greetings and we want you to know that we are all just so very proud of you so continue to soar high continue to follow your dreams but remember this is just the beginning you have only just begun congratulations graduates mary miller here i teach accounting and finance and i'm also the director of the undergraduate experience and it is my great honor to join you today on this special occasion of your graduation you've managed to complete all your coursework and finish your degree requirements in the middle of a pandemic who would have known since last march you've had to learn how to learn online how to do discussions online have team meetings online even present online you've had to adapt to a new learning environment now just as you've had to pivot and adapt so too has businesses begun to pivot to chart new course to change operations to adapt to this different business environment through some of your courses you've been able to discuss and analyze the business changes that are occurring right now you've had the opportunity to discuss the reasoning behind changes and many of the anticipated results and have been able to watch how those results have begun to unfold now some people might say that you're entering the business world at a time of great challenges well this is true but great challenges bring even greater opportunities business everywhere is changing after the great depression innovation was reborn well we're going to see the same thing here too as we emerge from this pandemic and the economic consequences resourcefulness creativity entrepreneurial thinking these will all take on new meanings it's an exciting time to be in the business world right now and so we would like to send you off with our best wishes on behalf of my fellow faculty and staff in the pompeo college of business we all want to say congratulations you made it well done in the face of adversity you have not just survived you have succeeded so charge out there to the world be amazing remember that as an alum of the university of new haven you have resources at your disposal we have tens of thousands of graduates out in the tri-state area in the business world you'll have that opportunity to network and to do business in the newest way so let me leave you with one parting thought we are very very proud of you and your accomplishment and you should be proud of yourselves too and as you embark on the next phase of life just remember we're here for you and go chargers thank you for those fine comments mr president as dean of the pompei college of business i have the pleasure of presenting the individual candidates for their degrees alexander xavier avella [Music] jameel kingsley bowen magna laude christopher anthony carlisle ryan james frenzies [Music] veree francis hart [Music] timothy s horton [Music] michael christopher iozzo [Music] mirza ismail javed [Music] daniel fiotkowski zuma laude noor lalu latte ashley tiana mcdonald amanda mahia [Music] austin mosley jonathan robert vargas [Music] joshua kadani vasquez rosario shania vedro [Music] julia t zielinski magna laude [Music] khalid khalifa al-naymi isaac john andreoli [Music] kelsey lynn andreoli tanzina jisha anwar emily l baker [Music] even nicholas bauer nigel o'shane beckford jr siobhani ben s bobstar hi i'm shivani i graduated with mba in business analytics from university of new haven i would like to thank the university of new haven joseph thomas beturla iii gia sakora [Music] mark jermaine eaton john m esposito jr alexa victoria s steves samuel thomas groves [Music] zainab govin paula anik irvin [Music] dennis antoine james payala javia [Music] hi i'd like to take this opportunity to thank my family especially my father who has stood by me in these testing times and finally we have made it yes [Music] rose o'neil keithan rueda abdallah al-tayeb califallah clarissa kimka heather lee leper lisa marie longobardy marissa elizabeth mignon matthews fernando moncada [Music] caroline margaret murphy cindy t nguyen kayla o'brien sarah proto [Music] brian benjamin rivas matthew j webb [Music] eraza dakari [Music] kelsey c bennett [Music] angelique sikone lambria yvette gilling nisha jangid [Music] gene laspirance joseph richard todd kellner [Music] samaya ganesh kinney joao cavalcanti albuquerque lacombe taylor m logan yusniyaar marhaini [Music] thank you everyone and congratulations for all of us [Music] candace marie mastriana myra mchale kevin j mendoza tracy ann mirione [Music] nikar narula [Music] rogelio el nunez al dunson [Music] anil tulu by virtue of the authority vested in me by the board of governors i hereby confer on each of our graduates the degree for which you have been recommended and admit you to the rights honors and responsibilities of educated individuals to symbolize your passage into the community of scholars graduates please move the tassel on your motorboard from right to left i am pleased to welcome you into the university's alumni association a network of more than sixty thousand across the country and around the world that is ready to assist you i realize this is not the culmination of your educational journey that you envisioned when you first stepped foot onto campus your resilience though and your achievements are what i will remember when i reflect upon your impact on the university i hope the trials you faced and resoundingly overcame during the course of the last year did not diminish your excitement for reaching this important milestone you should take great pride in all you have achieved on behalf of your professors and the entire university community i offer my best wishes for continued success and as always go chargers you

2021-01-25 15:36

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