It’s time to leave the cozy nest of academia, and head out into the world for a different kind of education – and to be educators themselves, Franklin Pierce University Valedictorian Eileen Savinelli told her classmates during the University’s graduation Saturday.
Savinelli, who graduated with a bachelor of science in health sciences, spoke to her class of the benefits of attending a small college, where classmates and professors – even those who you don’t have courses with – become a community.
“There’s something special about coming to a school this small,” Savinelli said. “It forms a really unique community and you get the feeling that you count.”
Savinelli crossed the stage to gain her diploma with about 350 other graduates earning their associates, bachelors or doctorates on Saturday. When taking into account the campuses in Manchester and Goodyear, Arizona, a total of 512 graduates of Franklin Pierce earned their degrees this year.
Savinelli encouraged those graduates to take what they had learned and bring it to the world.
Noting that “academic achievement and true education are two entirely different things,” Savinelli said she and her classmates make up a portion of the next generation of educators – whether that’s at the front of the classroom, in their workplaces or to their children.
This year, the university granted honorary degrees to three people, Joyce Craig, the mayor of Manchester, Georgia Lord, the mayor of Goodyear, Arizona, and Jamie Trowbridge, the president and CEO of Yankee Publishing Inc.
Also awarded during Saturday’s ceremony was the Honorable Walter R. Peterson Citizen Leader Award, named for former governor and Franklin Pierce president Walter Peterson. This year, the award was given to Martha Pappas, a trustee of the Arthur M. and Martha R. Pappas Foundation. The philanthropic work done by the foundation includes support of Franklin Pierce’s Athletic Training Center on the Rindge campus.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.