It was a day of celebration for the friends and family of more than 300 students at the spring 2009 St. Francis College Commencement on Wednesday May 27 at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. The group includes the second class of Accounting Graduate Students in school history. Several hundred people who were unable to attend viewed the ceremony live on the St. Francis College website where a replay is still available.

This year’s valedictory address delivered by Education Major Amanda Krol combined hope, sadness and warm reflections on her time at St. Francis College. Amanda, a member of the College’s Education Society, Vice-President of the local chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, an international education honor society and member of the St. Francis College Duns Scotus Honors Society, spoke about the death of her cousin Kevin last year, whose 29th birthday would have been on graduation day. She made special mention of one of her Education Professors, Peter Leibman, who left a supportive voicemail on her phone. “[He] had noticed that I wasn’t myself in class and appeared as though I was carrying a weight on my shoulders. Dr. Leibman reminded me that a successful teaching career was in the near future and encouraged me to keep moving towards my goals… I thought of how rare it is to have a professor who cares enough about his students to make a simple phone call,” she said.