PURCHASE COLLEGE 2014 COMMENCEMENT CELEBRATES CREATIVITY AND ACHIEVEMENT

Purchase College-SUNY will hold its 42nd annual commencement ceremony on Friday, May 16, 2014, at 12:30 p.m. at the Westchester County Center (198 Central Avenue, White Plains). 

Degrees will be conferred upon just over 1,000 graduates as thousands of family members, friends, college faculty and staff cheer on the Class of 2014. The event—which reflects Purchase’s reputation as a fulcrum of creative growth and accomplishment—features Joe Ferry and the Big Ska Band providing opening ceremony music while an array of luminaries from diverse fields will be presented with honorary degrees and distinguished alumni awards.

Visionaries in Journalism and Music Granted Honorary Degrees

Amy Goodman will receive an honorary degree in recognition of her outstanding contribution to independent political journalism and her role as a spokesperson for more effective governmental leadership and reform. Her career in journalism began in 1985 soon after she graduated from Harvard College and became news director of radio station WBAI in New York City. In 2001, she co-founded Democracy Now!, which is the only public media program in the country that airs simultaneously on radio, satellite and cable television, and the internet—and currently broadcasts on more than 1,000 public television and radio stations. She is also the author of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers Standing up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times and The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance and Hope.

John Zorn will receive an honorary degree in recognition of his accomplishments as a composer, performer, and educator as well as the indelible mark he has made on contemporary music. Zorn developed a passion for music and composing at an early age. By the 1970s, he had joined the downtown music scene in New York City and started the bands Naked City, Painkiller, and Masada. He later built a reputation for his skillful musical compositions for documentaries, underground films, and television. In 1995, he founded a record label, Tzadik, for artists who “find it difficult or impossible to release their music through conventional channels.” He is also the artistic director of The Stone, a nonprofit venue in New York City for avant-garde and experimental music. In 2006, Zorn was named a MacArthur Fellow.

Distinguished Alumni Inspire New Graduates to Greatness

Two honorees will receive a President’s Award for Distinguished Alumni at Commencement 2014:  Jodi Long and Peter Powchik.

“These honorees demonstrate how a Purchase College education gives our alumni the foundation for outstanding achievement in a broad range of sectors, including the performing arts and biomedical science,” says Purchase College President Thomas J. Schwarz.

Jodi Long ‘76 had her stage debut on Broadway at age seven and continued developing her talent as a classical dramatic actor while pursuing a BFA in acting at Purchase. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, she performed in a number of productions on and off-Broadway, including Flower Drum Song, for which she received a Los Angeles Ovation Award. In film and TV, she has acted in a wide range of roles from Patty Hearst to All-American Girl and the current TBS series, Sullivan & Son. Also a writer and producer, Long has written the award-winning movie Long Story Short about her parents’ careers as entertainers. She serves on the Boards of Visual Communications, the Screen Actors Guild, and other important organizations.

Peter Powchik ’79 graduated from Purchase College with a degree in chemistry, after which he received his M.D. from New York University School of Medicine. He has had a successful career in clinical development at leading pharmaceutical companies. In 2006, Powchik joined Regeneron, where he is currently Senior Vice President for Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs. At Regeneron, he has played a key role in successfully guiding important products for cancer, eye disease, and inflammatory conditions through clinical and regulatory processes.

Chancellor’s Awards Celebrate Student Achievers

The Purchase College commencement ceremony will also honor recipients of the 2014 Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. The winners of this prestigious award are:

--Lauren Britton, a BFA candidate in the School of Art+Design. She has served as a peer advisor, teaching assistant, and organizer of many student exhibitions. Her own painting was chosen for the Best of SUNY Art Exhibition in Italy last summer.

--Michaela Ellingson, a BFA candidate in the Conservatory of Dance. She has served as a class representative, dance ambassador, and resident assistant, as well as traveling extensively as a dance outreach volunteer. Ellingson’s choreography has been performed in multiple venues on and off campus, including the Downtown Cabaret in Brooklyn.

--Elizabeth Pysarenko, graduating with an MA in modern and contemporary art, criticism, and theory, received her BA (magna cum laude) in art history from Purchase College in 2011. In her years at Purchase, Pysarenko has earned the James Greenwood Prize for Best Senior Project in Humanities and the President’s Award for Excellence, and represented Purchase at a program held at St. Petersburg State University in Russia.

These Chancellor’s Award recipients join a select group of 274 SUNY students who were chosen for this prestigious award from a pool of more than 460,000 students in the system.

Victor Couto, a journalism major, will serve as Senior Speaker at the Commencement ceremony. The National Anthem will be performed by Rachel Weishoff ’14.