Story written by Glenn Coin and Alaina Potrikus. Syracuse, NY - Three commencement ceremonies today wrapped up what was a large college graduation weekend in Central New York. Syracuse University and State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry graduated a total of 5,297 students in a joint ceremony at the Carrier Dome. LeMoyne College and Colgate University graduated...
Le Moyne College student Callie Goss, of Syracuse, gets ready at the Onondaga County War Memorial for Le Moyne College's 60th commencement ceremony on Sunday.
Story written by Glenn Coin and Alaina Potrikus.
Syracuse, NY - Three commencement ceremonies today wrapped up what was a large college graduation weekend in Central New York.
Syracuse University and State University College of Environmental Science and Forestry graduated a total of 5,297 students in a joint ceremony at the Carrier Dome. LeMoyne College and Colgate University graduated an additional 1,500 students between them.
That follows four graduations Saturday when about 4,700 picked up diplomas from State University College at Oswego, Morrisville State, Onondaga Community College and Cazenovia College.
Here is a summary of Sunday’s convocations:
SU/SUNY ESF
Location: Carrier Dome
Commencement year: 156th (SU); 113th (ESF)
Number of graduates: 4,760 (SU); 537 (ESF)
Honorees: Elizabeth Catlett, an American sculptor, printmaker and painter; Gerald Cramer, co-founder of Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn LLC investment firm; Claire Fagin, health consultant to foundations, developing national programs and educational institutions; Ron Meyer, president and chief operating officer of Universal Studios; George Weiss, founder of Say Yes to Education Inc.; Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase bank.
Keynote speaker: Jamie Dimon
Excerpt: “Graduates, you will soon leave this wonderful community and venture into a new world to get ready for new jobs, new opportunities and new lives. Along the way, you’re going to face a lot of pressure. Never give in to that pressure. Have the fortitude to do the right thing, not the easy thing. Have the courage to speak the truth, even when it is unpopular, and have the courage to put yourself on the line, to strive for something meaningful, and even to risk what would be an embarrassing failure.”
LeMoyne College
Location: Onondaga County War Memorial 
Actor Tim DeKay, a 1985 LeMoyne College graduate, delivers the keynote speech at the college's 60th commencement ceremony.
Commencement year: 60th
Number of graduates: 820
Honorees: Actor Tim DeKay, who played “Bizarro Jerry” on Seinfeld; Sister Mary Laurence Hanley, co-author of biography of Blessed Marianne Cope; Robert D. Manfred Jr., an executive vice president for Major League Baseball.
Keynote speaker: Tim DeKay
Excerpt: “I’m not going to tell you that failure is great fun, but it is extremely valuable and it is inevitable. The irony is that we should avoid failure whenever we can but we all experience it, and when we do, we can learn something significant from it. My wish for you is that when you fail, you will look at it as ‘losing a layer of the inessential.’ It will begin to empower you beyond measure.”
Colgate University
Location: Sanford Field House
Commencement year: 189
Number of graduates: 690
Honorees: The Rev. Roger Ferlo, Colgate class of 1977; dean and director of the Institute for Christian Formation and Leadership, professor of religion at Virginia Theological Seminary; university trustee Daniel Benton, class of 1980, chairman and chief executive officer of Andor Capital Management, established Benton Scholars program. Ronald Crutcher, president of Wheaton College, Norton, Mass., renowned cellist and music scholar.
Keynote speaker: Philosopher Martha Nussbaum, teaches at the University of Chicago, specializes in moral-political and Greek-Roman philosophy.
Topic: The nature and importance of the liberal arts.
Excerpt: “ If we do not insist on the crucial importance of the humanities and the arts, they will drop away, because they don't make money. They only do what is much more precious than that, make a world that is worth living in, people who are able to see other human beings as equals, and nations that are able to overcome fear and suspicion in favor of sympathetic and reasoned debate.”
Usher Kate Collier, of Auburn, assists graduates Luke Nellis, of Fonda, and Dan Tunison, of Bath, prepare Sunday for LeMoyne College's 60th commencement ceremony at the Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse.