Lighthouse Guild Scholarship Awarded; College Students Graduate

Lighthouse Guild scholarships of $8,000 are based on strong academic accomplishment and merit to help students who are legally blind make a successful transition to college and graduate school.

Cameron Fox, Northport, who plans to attend Sacred Heart University, was one of the recipients.

Since 2005, Lighthouse Guild’s Scholarship Program has awarded approximately $2.6 million in scholarships to outstanding students from around the country.

Scholarship recipients have gone on to careers as nurses, attorneys, teachers, engineers, chemists, composers, musicians, neuroscientists, social workers, and business owners.

NYIT Graduations

New York Institute of Technology’s Physician Assistant (PA) Studies program recently celebrated graduating members of the Class of 2021 with a white coat ceremony.

White coat ceremonies are a rite of passage celebrating the completion of students’ training as they graduate and pursue careers as PAs. In marking the transition into professional life, the event centers around the symbolic awarding of a new long white coat, which replaces the short student white coat worn daily to class and clerkships.

Local members of the PA Studies Class of 2021 included:

Hooman Arya of Huntington (11743)

Anum Mahmood of Huntington Station (11746)

Pooja Navlani of Huntington Station (11746)

Brett Schneider of Melville (11747)

New York Institute of Technology’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program recognized members of the Class of 2021 with a hooding ceremony. Hooding ceremonies celebrate the completion of students’ training as they graduate and pursue careers as physical therapists. Local members of the Class of 2021 included:

Aaron Digirolamo of Melville (11747)

Sara Foxman of Cold Spring Harbor (11724)

Alexandra Hermanowski of Fort Salonga (11768)

Alexander Perissi of Huntington (11743)

Michael Schaake of Huntington (11743)

58 nursing students from New York Institute of Technology’s Class of 2021 were welcomed into the profession with a virtual pinning ceremony. Nursing school pinning ceremonies are a rite of passage celebrating the completion of students’ training as they graduate and go on to pursue careers as RNs. Local nursing students included:

Eric Dworkin of Northport (11768)

Caitlin Espinosa of Dix Hills (11746)

Kassandra Plantin of Dix Hills (11746)

Pierrline Renois of Huntington (11743)

Jisa Sunny of Dix Hills (11746)

Despite its virtual nature, the event followed traditional pinning ceremony practices, with the soon-to-be nurses reciting the Nightingale Pledge. Named after Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, the pledge is a statement of the ethics and principles of the nursing profession. The Class of 2021 also took part in the traditional candlelight ceremony to commemorate Nightingale and her efforts to aid wounded soldiers by candlelight during the Crimean War.

University of New Hampshire

The following students graduated from the University of New Hampshire in Durham recently.  Students who received the honor of summa cum laude graduated with a GPA of 3.85-4.0; students who received the honor of magna cum laude graduated with a GPA of 3.65-3.84; and students who received the honor of cum laude graduated with a GPA of 3.50-3.64.  A traditional, in-person commencement ceremony will be scheduled at a future date yet to be determined.

Vincent Dejana of Dix Hills graduated with a BSME degree in Mechanical Engineering

Jeremy Rescott of Northport graduated with a BSME degree in Mechanical Engineering

University of Scranton

More than 800 bachelor’s degrees were conferred at its in-person undergraduate celebration ceremonies on May 23. Degrees were conferred to graduates who had completed their academic degree requirements in August and December of 2020, as well as January and May of 2021.