Spotlight Archive

May 12, 1999
Larry King to Deliver Keynote Address to Graduates As Brooklyn College
Celebrates 74th Commencement Exercises Joe Torre and Bruce C. Ratner among Honorees

     Brooklyn, NY - Saluting its past, basking in the present,and anticipating the promise of the new millennium, Brooklyn College will celebrate its final graduation of the twentieth century as students, dignitaries, and guests gather for the college's 74th Commencement Exercises. The ceremony will be held on the campus Quadrangle, on Wednesday, June 2, at10:30 a.m., when 2,683 students will receive bachelor's or master's degrees.

     Brooklyn-born talk-show host Larry King will deliver the commencement address and receive a Presidential Medal presented by Brooklyn College President Vernon E. Lattin. New York Yankees manager Joe Torre and real estate developer Bruce C. Ratner will receive honorary degrees.

     Presidential Medals will also be awarded to Miriam ColonValle, accomplished producer, director, and actor as well as a widely respected activist for Puerto Rican and Hispanic causes; and to Hobart S. Jarrett, professor emeritus of English at Brooklyn College, and a highly regarded champion of civil rights.

     Alumni honors will be conferred upon Daisy L. Machado,class of 1974, one of the nation's eminent scholars in the field of religion; Professor Emeritus Joseph Gruenebaum, class of 1953, for his extraordinary contributions to both the field of physics and Brooklyn College; and Barry R. Chiswick, class of 1962, one of the world's leading authorities on the economics of immigration, labor, and minorities.

     Among this year's most notable graduates are:

     * Danielle Georgette Elliott, who will speak on behalf of the graduating class and was editor of a campus magazine, Guava Shakti. She is graduating with a double major in English and Africana Studies and will pursue her Ph.D. studies in English at Princeton University.

     * Jun Lu, who emigrated from Shanghai, China, when he was four years old, quickly learned English and became one of the top readers in his school class. As a young adult, he was accepted to Stuyvesant High School and is graduating from Brooklyn College's B.A.-M.D. honors program. He will study medicine at the SUNY Health Science Center in Brooklyn.

     * Brenda M. Henry-Offor, a single mother of two, who will be pursuing her Ph.D. in English on a full scholarship at Purdue University. She is a member of both the CUNY Pipeline and Ford Colloquium honors programs.

     * Paul Ricardo Carrington, who will move with his family to Baltimore to begin Ph.D. studies in history atJohns Hopkins University. He is a member of the Mellon MinorityUndergraduate Fellowship program.

     * Maria Rodik, a Russian immigrant who has been in the United States for six years. With 14 of her fellow students in the B.A.-M.D. honors program, she will continue her studies at the SUNY Health Science Center in Brooklyn.

     * Andrew J. Silverberg, a graduate of the Scholars Program, who is planning to pursue his career on Wall Street.

     * Heidi N. Holder, former president of the Golden KeyNational Honor Society, who is graduating with a 4.0 grade pointaverage. She is a student in three of the most challenging honors programs atBrooklyn College: the Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship, theScholars Program, and the Ford Colloquium.


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