More than 70 Jamaicans graduate from Monroe College

Monroe College held its 89th annual commencement last Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall in midtown Manhattan. Among the 2,357 graduating students were 71 students from Jamaica, the largest international cohort from a single country outside the US.

Monroe’s faculty and staff warmly congratulate these exceptional students on their accomplishment.

Graduates in Monroe College’s class of 2022 represented 75 countries. In addition to students from the US and its territories, the next largest contingents were from Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, India, China, Ghana, St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Haiti, Nigeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Nepal, The Bahamas, Guyana, Ecuador, Albania, Mexico, and St Maarten.

Marc Jerome, president of Monroe College, spoke about the institution’s global community and rich diversity in his remarks at commencement.

He said, “Most colleges do not have a graduating class that reflects the world into which they are going. You absolutely represent the real world. Look around you. You are diverse. You represent different races, religions, and languages. You represent geographic locations from around NYC, around the country, and around the world. In fact, today, students from 75 different countries are graduating. While the class is incredibly diverse, there is one thing that unites you. No matter what challenges life brings you, whether they be personal or professional, love or health-related, you will overcome them and succeed.”

The college’s three-semester academic calendar enables Monroe students to earn 45 or more college credits per year, compared to the 30 credits college students typically earn per year at other institutions. That means that many of the graduates today earned their bachelor’s degree in three years, or their associate degree in less than two years.

TWO CEREMONIES

Two separate ceremonies were held to accommodate the families and friends of the students earning associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degrees or professional certificates. The college conferred 325 master’s degrees, 1,021 bachelor’s degrees, and 922 associate degrees this year, as well as awarded 89 professional certificates.

In addition to celebrating the academic achievements of the class of 2022, the college invited alumni from the class of 2020 and class of 2021 to participate. As those graduating classes did not have an in-person ceremony during the pandemic, the college invited them to a “commencement do-over”, so that they would have their well-deserved moment of hearing their name called as they crossed the iconic Radio City Music Hall stage.

The 1,115 graduates participating in the morning ceremony completed programmes of study in the School of Business and Accounting, School of Criminal and Social Justice, and School of Information Technology. Kathy Murphy, a valued member of staff in the president’s office for more than 30 years, led the processional as grand marshal. New York City Council Member Pierina Sanchez gave the keynote address. She represents the 14th Council District in the Bronx.

The afternoon ceremony conferred degrees on 1,242 graduates from Monroe’s King Graduate School, School of Allied Health Professions, School of Education, School of Hospitality Management (and Culinary Institute of New York), and School of Nursing. Kathy Murphy led the processional as Grand Marshal once again. Dr. Anael Alston, assistant commissioner in the New York State Education Department’s Office of Access, Equity, and Community Engagement, gave the keynote address.