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Elmira College Celebrates 161st Commencement

Elmira, NY (06/02/2019) — Elmira College celebrated the graduation of 226 students during its 161st Commencement on Sunday, June 2 at the First Arena, Elmira. The exercises included 204 undergraduate and 22 graduate students.

Following a welcome and award recognitions by Elmira College President Charles Lindsay, Dr. Joseph Lemak, Director of the Center for Mark Twain Studies, joined Dr. Lindsay to confer Mr. Ron Powers, Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning writer and critic, with the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters for his extensive literary accomplishments and lifelong commitment to the life and works of Mark Twain.

Born in Hannibal, Missouri - Mark Twain's boyhood home - Powers has written extensively on Mark Twain and his literature, including a biography, Mark Twain: A Life (2005), also a New York Times bestseller and finalist for the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award. His book, Tom & Huck Don't Live Here Anymore: Childhood and Murder in the Heart of America, was a finalist for the 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Current Interest category and a semifinalist for a Robert F. Kennedy Prize.

The author or co-author of 16 books, including Flags of Our Fathers (2000), a New York Times No. 1 bestseller, Powers's career also has included work in broadcast, playwriting, and teaching. In 1988, he hosted an 11-part series of hour-long programs produced for The Learning Channel and appeared in the 2002 Ken Burns PBS film, "Mark Twain." Powers's two-act play, Sam and Laura, based on the young life of Samuel Clemens, was performed around the country in 2010. He is the winner of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize in Criticism, for work done at the Chicago Sun-Times; and a 1984 Emmy for his commentaries on CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt.

Following the conferring of the honorary degree, Dr. Charles Mitchell, provost, introduced the 2019 Salutatorian, Olivia Cacchione '19, and the 2019 Valedictorian, Liam Mason '19. Dr. Mitchell then presented the 2019 undergraduate and graduate candidates to Dr. Lindsay for conferral.

"To all the graduates and prizewinners whom we have honored today, let me say that we are proud of you and look forward to great things as you move ahead in your careers," said Dr. Lindsay. "Your education at Elmira has equipped you with a solid foundation from which to pursue your career goals, and as alumni of this fine institution, remember that this is your place, the College where you made friends, shaped your future and came of age, a College that will be part of you forever."

During ceremonies prior to Commencement, members of the graduating class were recognized with multiple honors and prizes, including induction into Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest national honors organization, and officer commissioning with the United States military. The Class of 2019 also included 108 honor graduates receiving summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude honors.

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Elmira College celebrated the graduation of 226 students during its 161st Commencement on Sunday, June 2 at the First Arena, Elmira. Ron Powers, Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning writer and critic, was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters for his extensive literary accomplishments and lifelong commitment to the life and works of Mark Twain. Powers also presented the commencement address.

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