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| Graduates follow bagpiper Andrew Hutton '18, honored by faculty members on either side |
Most of these students made this pilgrimage four years earlier at orientation weekend as they were welcomed into the Houghton family. They leave campus prepared to write the next chapter in the story of their lives, bolstered by the knowledge, experiences, and relationships they have found here.
John Inazu, the Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion and a professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis, gave this year’s commencement address. Inazu, also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, encouraged the class to be unafraid to seek common ground and to confidently live in faith. “My charge to you is to go forward, go forward into those messy and risky spaces where you are called to be salt and light. Go forward into your workplaces and neighborhoods, go forward in interfaith partnerships and in partnerships with people of no faith. Go forward in the confidence of the Gospel for the sake of the church and for the sake of the world.”
This year’s senior class gift, a seedling from the beloved Houghton Tree of Life that fell during a June 2016 storm, was accompanied by two special gifts made from the wood of the fallen tree: a bench and coffee table created by Professor Emeritus of Psychology Daryl Stevenson and senior Landon Scheaffer, and a branch of the tree that will henceforth be passed through the hands of all graduates, symbolizing their connection to Houghton and the Tree of Life.
Houghton College President Shirley Mullen encouraged the graduates as they entered a new phase of their lives: “You have been given the challenge to use your gifts in service to the church, to your local community, and to the world. … Tomorrow, when you first wake up to the world as a college graduate, commit yourself – in the face of any fears you might feel – to the twin calls of patience and boldness as you find the next place of challenge and grace that God has prepared for you.”
This year’s class includes the first cohort of students who completed their entire degree online through Houghton, as well as 22 members of the Houghton College Buffalo program completing their Associate of Arts degree.
Snapshot of the Class of 2017:
Co-Valedictorians: Marina Cull (Princeton Junction, NJ) and Joseph Gilligan V (Ringwood, NJ)
Salutatorian: Michael Ganger (West Seneca, NY)
Total # of Graduates: 269 (5 master’s degrees, 241 bachelor’s degrees, and 23 Associate of Arts) Countries represented:
* Antigua and Barbuda
* Barbados
* Canada
* Chile
* China
* Dominican Republic
* Ghana
* Korea
* Saudi Arabia
* United States
Honors:
* Summa cum laude: 17
* Magna cum laude: 56
* Cum laude: 28
Sibling Graduates:
* Joanna and Emily Friesen of Sellersville, PA
* Jesse and Kayla Jones of Oxford Station, ON, Canada
Married Graduates:
* Dan and Rachel Bellerose of Houghton, NY
Allegany County Graduates
Hannah Cornell, Angelica NY
Luke Duttweiler, Angelica NY
Briana Hollenback, Angelica NY
Elissa Tyrrell, Angelica NY
Christopher Cahill. Fillmore NY
Daniel Merriam, Fillmore NY
Hannah Banks, Houghton NY
Laura Black, Houghton NY
Joseph Gessler, Houghton NY
Joshua Haingray, Houghton NY
John Nelson, Houghton NY
Deanna Hackett, Richburg NY
Zachariah Gildemeister, Rushford NY
Marshall Brady, Wellsville NY
Kayla Brophy, Wellsville NY
Samuel Case, Wellsville NY
Steuben County Graduates
Daniel Hammers, Wayland NY
Trent Buckley, Bath NY
Elyssa Schreppel, Corning NY
Cameron Groff, Hornell NY
Ian DeHaas, Painted Post NY
Bethany Rudolph, Painted Post NY