St. Lawrence Celebrates First ‘Real’ Graduation for Class of 2024
In a celebration of academic and extracurricular achievement, resilience, and community spirit, over 500 members of the St. Lawrence University Class of 2024 participated in the University’s Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 19, in Newell Fieldhouse.
President Kate Morris lauded the graduates’ many successes in the classroom, while collaborating with faculty on research, scholarship, and creative activities; studying abroad and away; completing internships, completing community-based learning; serving as campus leaders, and competing as scholar-athletes.
“Commencement is indeed one of our proudest days on campus, and it is also a day that illustrates how far you’ve come—together,” President Morris said. “Take a moment to look around you: this is the caring, supportive, hard-working, high-achieving, adventure-loving, growth-minded, open-hearted community you have created. You inspire me, Class of 2024.”
Leading Laurentians
Beloved Charles A. Dana Professor of History Liz Regosin, who is retiring after 27 years of service as a mentor to both students and faculty colleagues, referenced the resilience demonstrated by the graduates, whose first year of college was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m not worried about you or your future; you don’t need any words of preparation from me. You have weathered some difficult storms already. And I feel confident that your experience at St. Lawrence has prepared you to face whatever is in front of you.”
Regosin reminded the graduates of the many important lessons imparted by their liberal arts education, including: “You learned that opinions aren’t arguments and that you don’t ever need to let anyone tell you what to think because you know how to do that for yourself; You learned that being the change you want to see in the world is a lot easier to say than to do, but that you should try to do it anyway; You learned that art, music, and literature are essential to life and that math and science are beautiful.”
Regosin was joined on stage by honorary degree recipient Kathleen Fitzgerald ’92. A conservation leader with extensive experience in integrated large landscape conservation and development programs in Africa and North America, Fitzgerald shared her insights on finding purpose and making a positive impact in life. “Don’t get overwhelmed, get involved.”
She also congratulated the University on the 50th anniversary of its Kenya Semester Program. “It was through the Kenya Semester Program that I was introduced to Kenya, which became my home, alongside South Africa, for 15 years,” she said.
Fitzgerald encouraged graduates to pick something they’re passionate about, and to pursue it without distraction. “I am going to warn you, whatever field you pick people are going to tell you, ‘That won’t work, we tried that, don’t even bother.’ But here is the thing, it might work, and you should bother.”
At Conservation Capital, where she was a partner, Fitzgerald raised and invested funds in cutting-edge businesses to leverage conservation and social impact, like community-owned tourism lodges in Namibia, Uganda, and Ethiopia. “All of these carried risk and some did not work,” she explained. “But we learned from our mistakes, improved the product, and those that did work, continue to provide critical support for conservation and community development.”
Academic Excellence
Senior Class President Cara Monteleone ’24, a neuroscience major and Phi Beta Kappa inductee, pointed out that this was the “first, real graduation” for many of them, since a majority of graduates’ high school ceremonies were canceled due to the pandemic, and that this class also had to navigate making friends “behind masks and virtual screens.”
And yet, Monteleone pointed out, finding connection is exactly what members of the Class of 2024 did. Monteleone described the experience of building community while living and learning in a yurt village while studying away in the Adirondack Semester, and then widening their community after returning to campus.
“I can say that through our conversations and connections, I have grown into the person I am today," said Monteleone, who served as the theme coordinator for the Java Barn theme house, biology and neuroscience teaching assistant, pre-orientation trip leader, and alto saxophonist for SLU Funk. “You all have carried me to this point. We have carried each other to this point.”
Senior Orator Billie McClosky ’24 echoed those sentiments in her address to classmates. The winner of the Joan Donovan Speech Contest graduated with a double-major in multi-language and multi-field, with minors in Francophone studies, Arabic studies, and gender and sexuality studies. In addition to working as a Language Resource Center Intern and French and Arabic Teaching Assistant, she also spent a semester abroad in Rennes, France, and a summer in Jordan doing research with a Tanner Fellowship Grant. “Our community is something that we will cherish for as long as we live,” McClosky said. “Don’t let your worries about the unknown stop you from taking a step in a new direction—know you have a community of now alumni behind you supporting you and believing in all that you do.”
The Jeffery H. Boyd Class of ’78 Prize, awarded for overall contributions and exemplary leadership, was given to Tyler Karasinski ’24. The physics major was a member of the Laurentian Singers and The Upbeats a cappella group, served as an arts and photography editor for the Laurentian Magazine, as a physics teaching assistant, and during his senior year as a NASA Eclipse Ambassador who helped lead the planning of the Total Eclipse of the Quad event.
The Trustee Academic Achievement Award went to two members of the senior class with a tie for the highest cumulative grade point average in four years of study at St. Lawrence. English and economics major Amy S. Francesconi and data science major Hope Rutherford Donoghue both achieved cumulative GPAs of 4.0.
Making a Difference
During the ceremony, President & CEO of Adirondack Foundation Cali Brooks received the North Country Citation in recognition of her leadership of a community foundation that strengthens and enriches Adirondack communities. In just 20 years, Adirondack Foundation has grown to $90 million in assets and has distributed over $75 million in grants and scholarships to the mountain and lake communities throughout the Adirondack region.
She urged graduates to consider a future in a rural community, “where you can help move the narrative from fear to possibility. Where you can foster meaningful interactions across partisan, educational, and income divides to create mutual understanding and tolerance,” she said, adding: “We need your minds and talents dedicated to places like Canton, St. Lawrence County, and the Adirondack Park not years from now, but right away.”
Earlier during Commencement Weekend, two Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets received their commissions as officers in the US military: Matthew Coleman is an Air Force Pilot and History major and Jack Pryor, a double-major in Finance and Government, was commissioned into the Army Transportation Corps.
Laura Bolduc '24, chair of the senior class gift committee, announced that the "spirit and generosity" of the class members, as well as their family and friends, resulted in a total of $373,425 to the inaugural Senior Capstone Gift. Many made gifts in honor of two deceased classmates, Thomas Foster and Sydney Lohr, whose families received posthumous degrees on their behalf.
