Speakers Selected for 2023 Commencement Ceremonies
Erica Brandt, left,whowill receive her Masters in occupational therapy,willbe the speaker at the graduate commencement ceremony on Friday, May 19 at 7 p.m. in the Event Center. A native of Medina, Ohio, Brandt graduated from Dallas Baptist University in 2003 with a B.A. in sociology. After spending 12 years raising three children as a stay at home mom, she earned an associates degree as an occupational therapy assistant. Brandt workedin the field and loved that experience, which led her to pursuing her mastersat Le 91心頭利嫋. Her goal is to practice OT in an acute care or outpatient rehab setting.
The undergraduate ceremony speaker will beIvy Santana, a criminology major with minors in Spanish and gender and women’s studies, who is originally from the Dominican Republic and grew up in Queens, N.Y. After graduation she will workfor a yearas a paralegalat a law firm in Syracuse and thenattendSyracuse University to pursue her law degree.
During her time on the Heights,Santanaservedas an RA, as vice president of student developmentforthe Student Government Association, as president of the Council of Honor Societies andasco-president of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society for the First Year.ACSTEP Scholarwho was in theIntegral Honors Program,sheinterned with Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter and the Kings County Federal Court through the Sonia and Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program.
Her message to her classmates? Keep your eyes on the prize and use the last four years as a reminder that we are stronger than we think, and together wewereable to make it through the finish line. But most importantly, I would like to remind the class of 2023 of their resiliency, and their ability to adapt to change and succeed through it.