Public Employee Press

Graduation Day

Sixty-four DC 37 members celebrated a milestone in their lives this May as they completed their studies at the union campus of the College of New Rochelle and received their bachelor’s degrees.

By JANE LaTOUR

The 64 members of DC 37 who earned their college degrees at the union this year marked their long road to academic achievement with two ceremonies. On May 15, they celebrated their graduation from the College of New Rochelle’s School of New Resources with a hooding ceremony at DC 37 headquarters. And on May 25, the only day of sunshine in a week of rain, they joined 1,100 graduating CNR students in the college’s commencement at Radio City Music Hall.

DC 37 Campus Director Dr. Gwen Tolliver-Luster explained the significance of the blue and white sash that was draped over each student’s shoulders at the hooding, a custom that traces its roots to medieval times. “This is a very important ritual that we perform at the School of New Resources,” she said. “It helps to define who we are as an academic community, and it welcomes the graduates into that community.”

Dept. of Education Local 372 Vice President Santos Crespo greeted the students and dubbed them the “Mission Impossible Force.” As he pointed out, many of the students overcame huge obstacles in completing their education, thereby achieving “a mission impossible. Many of you are also single mothers — another mission impossible. Some of you are union activists — another mission impossible.” He saluted the student body with a Sanskrit saying: “I bow to the divinity within you.”

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts lauded the accomplishments of the graduating members and explained how she helped found the union college campus. “Some of us didn’t have the opportunity to go to college,” she said. “I didn’t, but I wanted others to have that chance.” As she pointed out, DC 37 is the only union in the country that provides its members a full four-year college program at the union.“I am fortunate in that I can achieve my dream through you,” she told the proud grads.

“The big picture”
Brenda Jimenez, an active member of Local 372, addressed the gathering on behalf of her classmates. She spoke about the tools that the graduates received from their education in the social sciences — “tools that allow us to see the big picture, tools with which we can shape our destiny.”

A river of CNR graduates and their families, ­including those from the union, flowed into Radio City Music Hall May 25 for the commencement ceremony. After the stirring strains of “Pomp and Circumstance,” CNR President Dr. Stephen J. Sweeney welcomed the Class of 2006.

“While we are glorying in our celebration, we’ve turned outward to share our celebration with our brothers and sisters in the battered city of New Orleans,” he noted. CNR used the occasion of their commencement to launch a fundraising effort to help restore the hurricane-damaged Xavier University of Louisiana.

In its 80-year history, Xavier, the nation’s only historically black and Catholic university, has become the nation’s top-ranking producer of African-American medical students, pharmacists, and undergraduates earning degrees in biology and life sciences.

Commencement speaker Norman C. Francis, president of Xavier University, spoke to the students about the lessons of Katrina. It is difficult to imagine a more meaningful commencement address. He called the massive destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina “simply unimaginable. For New Orleans, it’s going to be a long way back.”

However, he was able to draw a lesson in human determination and the powerful call of education in the response of Xavier, its students and its supporters. When the college reopened, only four months after Katrina flooded its campus, 76 percent of its student body returned. “Every day we open our doors is a miracle,” he said.

SNR graduate Wanda Arroyo traveled a long, hard road to obtain her degree. She is the first in her family to graduate from college. To accomplish this, she confronted daunting obstacles. As a member of Dept. of Education Employees Local 372, she eagerly embraced the opportunity to partake in the educational program extended by the union. “The union has helped me immeasurably,” she said. “It’s like a family. They take care of you in every way!”

On to grad school
Like 79 percent of her fellow graduates, Ms. ­Arroyo intends to continue her education into graduate school. She has been accepted into the masters’ degree program at Long Island University in Brooklyn. Arroyo said it was gratifying to share the commencement’s spotlight with Xavier University: “It’s fabulous. I feel so good about it.”

Brenda Jimenez dreams of achieving her goal of becoming a union representative. One of her passions is to encourage others to take advantage of the educational opportunities offered by Local 372 and DC 37. “It’s a wonderful program and without it,I wouldn’t have been able to obtain my bachelor’s degree,” she said. Inspired by the inclusion of Xavier University, she gave a donation to help the struggling school. “It helps to make all of us conscious of the need to rebuild in New Orleans,” she said. “I’m very impressed with Xavier University — and with the College of New Rochelle.”