Hi, I'm Paul LeBlanc president here at Southern
New Hampshire University, welcome. First, let me tell you where I am today, I'm
at the Wolak Library Learning Commons, this is a beautiful facility we built 10 years
ago now to support the study and research that our students were doing and it's an award-winning
facility which I hope you'll get to visit someday. Why am I with you at this moment? Because we're about to kick off our Spring
2023 Commencement Ceremonies. There are 17,000 students eligible to graduate
this year. Thousands will come to Manchester and they'll
walk across the stage at the SNHU arena and thousands more will join us through our Virtual
Commencement Ceremony. However you're joining us, we're proud. There are lots and lots of people who have
supported you on your journey and lots more who are supporting you on this wonderfully
auspicious day, so let's get the ceremony started. To my fellow graduates,
motivation, dedication, and commitment is what we put in to make it to this day. The day that we never thought would come is
here, we made it. Today we are gathered as a diverse group of
individuals, a family of students who come from all facets of life. And our books are not finished, no matter
how hard this chapter has been, let the next few pages be filled with pride and accomplishment. It's up to you now. The doors that are open, the paths that you
choose, everything is up to you. I invite you to see today as proof that through
the sleepless nights and obstacles, you have prevailed. It always seems impossible until it's done. Once the highs of today simmer, know that
life will not always be easy, but you can do anything that you put your mind to. Let us thank our families, our friends, even
our endearing pets, and all their inspirations for cheering us on. We wouldn't have been able to do it without
you. I've made incredible friends for life here,
I thank everyone for my wonderful experiences and education from faculty to my fellow students. I've learned so much through this community
of motivated peers, committed counselors, and inspiring instructors. My SNHU experience was more than just about
what my degree could do for me, but what I can do with my degree to better society. This is a challenging and changing world,
and it needs us. This world needs true leaders, leaders who
inspire, leaders who develop other leaders. My fellow SNHU penmen, become great leaders. If we never give up, even beyond our degrees,
and always believe in ourselves, we can be anyone we want and realize our biggest dreams. Congratulations, Class of 2023, we did it! Hello, I'm Dr. Michelle Hill, Executive Director
of Social Sciences. Would the faculty and graduates of Southern
New Hampshire University's Social Sciences programs please rise if you are able. President LeBlanc, I'm pleased
to introduce the newest graduates of Southern New Hampshire University's Social Sciences
programs. The mission of SNHU's Social Sciences Department
is to enhance learners' academic experiences within an asynchronous environment and apply
evidence and competency-driven knowledge towards self, cultural, and societal improvement. We pride ourselves on providing our learners
with a transformative educational experience, never giving up on those who put forth the
effort to achieve their academic goals. The social sciences are more important than
ever during these uncertain and challenging times. Knowledge of human behavior and practical
skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, research, communication,
and ethical reasoning will help you, our graduates, to be change agents in your communities. The human experience is something that unites
all of us. In pursuing a Social Sciences degree, you
have followed your aspirations to serve others. To our many faculty, Associate Deans, advisors,
and staff thank you for all that you've done to contribute to our Social Sciences graduates'
success. Congratulations to you all, the newest graduates
of SNHU's Social Sciences programs. Good afternoon everyone. How are you doing? Isn't this a glorious day? My name is Lisa Marsh Ryerson and I have the
privilege of serving as the SNHU Provost and it is my great, my extraordinary pleasure
to welcome all of the families, your friends, faculty and staff, and of course, our graduates
who are with us here this afternoon or via live stream. We are thrilled to be celebrating Spring Commencement
with you. And now if you are able, I ask you to please
stand, rise for the singing of our national anthem, sung this afternoon by one of our graduates,
Stephanie Gaspard. Oh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave Wow, thank you, Stephanie. Today we have graduates from all 50 states
and U.S territories, 51 countries, and a wide range of cultures and faith traditions. And our ceremony takes place on the ancestral
lands of the Abenaki nation, in Manchester, in a city built on the backs of immigrants
and working people. And it's important to remember that our success
has its roots with those who came before us, including loved ones who are no longer with
us. So now please join me in a moment of silence,
whether in contemplation or in prayer to honor all those we hold dear in our hearts. Thank you. And now it is my great pleasure to welcome
and to introduce our platform party for this afternoon's Commencement Ceremony. I'll ask you to stand when I call your name
or by group and remain standing and then you can help me recognize the platform party as
a group. Leading this afternoon's procession was our
Mace Bearer, Anthony Siciliano. And we are delighted to have the chair of
the SNHU Board of Trustees with us, Winnie Lerner. And representatives from the academic and
executive leadership teams of the university. And our alumni speaker, and our student speaker. Please join me in thanking them. Please be seated. It's also a delight to take a moment to acknowledge
our long-time closed caption provider Deborah Knapp, and our incredible sign language interpreters,
Heather Geiser, and Kristen Chenoweth-Curty, thank you. And finally, it is my great honor and delight
to introduce to you the president of Southern New Hampshire University, Dr. Paul LeBlanc. She didn't really have to tell you my title
did she? I mean look at the bling, the extra stripe
on the sleeve, and these brand-new SNHU sneakers I got the first pair of high tops, SNHU high
tops, which you can buy now I think, or eventually on the website. It's great to be with, someone yesterday said
this is, they looked at this outfit and goes, that's the big dog uniform, like thank you,
I like that idea, the big dog uniform. I get the pleasure of speaking with you for
a few minutes. I love doing this, they've given me permission
so don't think I'm doing some offensive thing here but I think sign language is the most
beautiful form of communication and if you look at the video, I always do this, I don't
tell them what I'm going to say and just watch how gorgeous this is. Whenever a new graduate walks across the platform,
God smiles down on the universe, unicorns run over rainbows, whales and dolphins dance
together, and then the jungle monkeys pound the drums, my best part. Want to see it again? Monkeys pound the drums. Thank you, you're so good to me, they let
me do this every time, I try to make up new stuff. Someone asked me, what's your favorite part
of commencement, it's a very hard question to answer because every part of it's pretty
wonderful, by the way, what a great version of the national anthem holy cow, but every
part of it is just terrific. But I think among my favorite moments are
actually the ones that are less visible and less public. They're the moments of conversation beforehand,
we were taking selfies back there, at the moments, sort of you know, in the runway,
sometimes it's after, it's meeting parents it's hearing children. And in those moments, I hear amazing stories,
I hear stories of perseverance, in grit, degrees are chipped away at over 10, 5, 10, 15, 20
years in some cases, and today's the day that it comes to fruition. I hear stories of, you know, when you people
enrolling life didn't stop and life got in the way, in so many ways good and bad, so
degrees were paused and then came back, study was paused and then returned to, people who
were deployed, who did military service. Yesterday we had a graduate who was making
her way through the line and it was hard, right, she had trauma in her background, and
being in online I watched our staff just surround her and she walked proudly across and received
her diploma and heard her name sung out as you'll hear yours in just a little bit. And it was, I was thinking a little bit about
this because you know Lisa our academic our University Provost presides over this ceremony
as our MC in a sense, because this is the most important academic ceremony of the whole
year, your graduation, and academics is very much the work of the head, but in some ways
I think the ceremony is very much a celebration of the work of the heart. That when I ask people, why did you do this
hard thing, you're working full-time, you've got three kids, etc., etc. They often say, well I did it to unlock an
opportunity, you know to have a, you know, a job opportunity to get paid better, take
better care of my family. But almost in the same breath they often say,
I did it for my son, I did it for my daughter, I did it for my grandchild, I did it for my
partner, I did it for my parents who aren't here today, but I always promised them that
one day I would finish this, I did it because I had a dream of a better future in the United
States and I immigrated and now I'm going to realize that with this degree in hand. I talked to someone yesterday who said that
10 years ago she and her two children were this close to being unhoused to losing their
home, and they were eating cereal every night and then she eventually came to us, eventually
got her degree, and now they are in a secure place where kids are going to college, she's
married, remarried, she's happy and her voice is quavering when she told me this story because
she was describing the incredible transformational power of education. Among you today, just a couple of examples,
we have Remus who's an active duty service member, who earned his degree while going
through chemotherapy and raising two boys. So active duty, chemo, two kids, he's graduating today with his wife Marlene
so they're both getting a dream together, while she expects a third child. I don't even know where he found time to have
a third child. Then there's Tiare, a 25-year-old firefighter
from Michigan, she's first-generation college graduate, as am I, raise your hand if you're
a first-generation college graduate, look at, look around this room, this is life-changing. She also has three boys, and while she was
completing her degree program, she completed her EMT school and the firefighting academy. Amazing. There's Tanesha and John, high school sweethearts,
parents of three, everyone has three kids, what is it with this group, parents of three
who both grew up together in New York. They both went to college straight out of
high school, life get in the way, today, 20 years later, they crossed the stage together
arm in arm. I mean, how great is that? There's Eliana, who immigrated from Mexico
as a child, she put her degree on hold when she became a military spouse but she was inspired
to return to school after seeing so many others, we served so many, raise your hand if you're
in the military or you're in a military family. Veterans, yeah, a lot, I mean look around
the room. No, this is the work, this is the work of
the heart, this is the work of transformation. I wrote a book last year, this sounds like
a sham, I won't even try the title because it'll sound like I'm doing an ad for my book,
I did a book last year but I spent a lot of time talking to psychologists and psychiatrists
and and people who are really doing work in hard industries. In industries of care, systems of care, whether
it was healthcare or K-12 or higher education, mental health counseling, substance abuse
counseling, and in every case they said for a life to be generally transformed, it can
only happen in relationship to someone else and oftentimes for many of you that's someone
else was your advisor, or a faculty member, or some staff person who was at your side. Often that someone else was someone in the
audience today, someone, who supported you. So I'm going to invite you to stand up, see
if you can find them, I know it's hard in this big place, but if you can, lock eyes
for a moment, want the graduates stand up and give a round of applause to all these
people who are here today to support you and cheer you on. Now look, a little bit later you guys have
to make a promise which is all those fathers, mothers, spouses, grandparents, kids, cousins,
friends, neighbors, co-workers when you see your graduate walk across the stage on the
big screen you're gonna make a lot of noise, a lot of noise. I'm depending on you. Whatever reason it drove you to SNHU, we're
incredibly proud that you chose us, we're incredibly proud that we're part of your celebration,
that's really important day, thank you so much for being an SNHU student. At each of our ceremonies, a university committee
selects a student to provide remarks. We have over 4,600 graduates participating
in our Virtual Commencement Ceremonies this spring, and I'm pleased to introduce our Virtual
Commencement speaker, Deborah Signa, receiving her Bachelor of Science degree. Deborah. Greetings President LeBlanc, Board of Trustees,
distinguished faculty, staff, family, and friends. It is a great honor to be invited to speak
with you today and a great responsibility. I never imagined I would be here proudly wearing
a cap and gown, ready to accept a well-earned degree. 35 years ago I graduated high school and took
my first college class. I was working two jobs at the time and, as
often happens, daily responsibilities outweigh the practicality of chasing my dream of an
education. Fast forward 30 years and my world was rocked
when I was diagnosed with colon cancer and I recognized it was time to invest in myself
and convert my dream to a reality. As an older student, I was nervous that I
would feel like a fish out of water and I wondered if I could master the technology
required for online learning. But from the first call with Jessica at Southern
New Hampshire University, I knew I had found my place and that I really could make my dream
come true. The SNHU core values of diversity, equity, and
inclusion, ensure there is a place for everyone while the instructors make it a point to respect
and honor our differences, helping students break down barriers and be successful. SNHU has changed my life by providing the
path I needed to achieve the lifelong goal of earning a degree. I now have the education I need to embrace
a career I'm passionate about and to be financially secure. More importantly, my experience at SNHU has
the power to change the lives of my children and my grandchildren and is a stepping stone
to making a difference in my community. Each of us here have taken a different journey
to get to this point and I believe the path to higher education is a personal one that
has the power to transform each of us in a unique way. So many of us have struggled to balance family,
work, and school but we have stayed the course and utilized the wealth of resources offered
by SNHU and now are graduating. The world economic forum has identified education
as a key driver in sustainable development, economic growth, and resilient communities. With this in mind, I encourage my fellow graduates
to embrace this experience, take the knowledge gained back to our communities, and serve
as mentors to others as they embark on their journey towards a higher education. Each of us here are living proof that with
tenacity and proper resources, dreams can come true. Congratulations, fellow graduates. Now before we do this, there's a little bit
of legal, legal step, we have to do I didn't do it one year the whole bunch of people think
they graduated from SNHU apparently they haven't but don't tell them that, but you will because
we're going to do this piece and Lisa Ryerson is going to join me for a little bit of a
legal procedure. We're going to get this right on your behalf. Will the Class of 2023 please rise? President LeBlanc, the candidates standing
before you have successfully completed the course of studies prescribed by the faculty
of Southern New Hampshire University and have fulfilled all requirements of their curricula. By the authority vested in me by The Board
of Trustees of Southern New Hampshire University and by the general court of the State of New
Hampshire, I hereby confer the degrees of International Master of Business Administration,
Master of Arts, Master of Business Administration, Master of Education, and Master of Science,
Bachelor of Applied Science, Bachelor of Arts, and Bachelor of Business Administration, and
Bachelor of Science, Associate in Arts, and Associate in Science, with all rights, honors,
and privileges pertaining thereto. Congratulations, you are now legally graduated
and we can move to the fun part. Congratulations everyone! Big round of applause for the Class of 2023! Well done. Raise your hand if this is the first time
you're in New Hampshire. A lot of you. You have no idea how much this makes the local
restaurants happy, I'm going to eat for free for a week thanks to you. You know, New Hampshire is a little bit like
the Tijuana of the northeast. We have like no helmet laws, children can
buy fireworks, and we put our liquor stores on the highway so you have a great time tonight,
just don't get in trouble though. And if you do get into trouble, tell them
you graduated from some other university, please. No, we're incredibly proud and just congratulations,
it really, this is the best weekend of the year for all of us who work at Southern New
Hampshire University, because we get to celebrate in your success. And now to close out the program, I want,
it's my pleasure to introduce our alumni board president, J.R. Ristaino. J.R., the podium is yours. Congratulations to the newest graduates of
Southern New Hampshire University. On behalf of the alumni board of directors,
I am honored to officially welcome you to the SNHU Alumni Association. Today more than 215,000 SNHU alumni around
the world congratulate you on your success and hope that you will be an active part of
our Global SNHU community. Now it's time for the traditional turning
of the tassel. When you earn your associate’s or bachelor's
degree you move your tassel from the right side of your cap to the left. Graduate students, you did this when you completed
your graduate work. At this time, if you are one of our learners
who has earned an associate’s or bachelor's degree, I invite you to stand up to participate
in the ceremonial tradition. Are you ready? It is time to move that tassel from the right
to the left. As you go forth today, always remember our
University motto, Summa Optimaque, in English, the greatest and the best, because indeed
you are. Congratulations again!
