Onondaga Community College celebrated its 62nd commencement ceremony Saturday, May 17 in the SRC Arena. A total of 660 students completing their coursework in either the spring 2025 or summer 2025 semesters were eligible to participate.
The student speaker was Meghan Bird, a 36-year-old native of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. "There's no one version of what an OCC student looks like, and that's what makes this college so special," Bird told her classmates. "The world doesn't need perfect people, it needs real ones. People who are willing to learn, grow, fail, try again, and lead with who they are. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to keep showing up."
Bird completed her Health Sciences degree at OCC. During her time on campus, she was also a member of Student Government, the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, the Student Advisory Board for OCC's School of Health, Wellness & Human Services, and tutored fellow students in Anatomy & Physiology, Medical Terminology, English, and Public Speaking. She plans to transfer to SUNY Upstate Medical University, where her goal is to become an MRI Technician.
Each year at commencement, honorary degrees are handed out. This year's honorees were:
- Melanie Littlejohn, SUNY Honorary Degree - She served on OCC's Board of Trustees for 14 years before becoming President and CEO of the Central new York Community Foundation.
- Heather Drake-Bianchi, OCC Honorary Degree - Heather is the CEO and Critical Care Paramedic at Drakos Clinical Dynamics. Thanks to her generous support, OCC was able to start Paramedic certificate and degree programs and provide student scholarships.
- Mary Porcari Brady, RN (posthumous), OCC Honorary Degree - The Mary Porcari Brady Fund financially supports Nursing students at OCC and community colleges across New York State.
- Judge Ava Raphael and Dr. Irving Raphael, OCC Honorary Degrees - The Raphael's have been outstanding supporters of OCC's students, funding the Lillian Slutzker Honors College, and the naming rights of Shapero Hall in memory of Judge Raphael's father, Ephraim E. Shapero.
If you missed the ceremony or want to watch it again, you can view it on OCC's YouTube page by clicking here.
Prior to commencement, a Nurse Pinning ceremony was held in Storer Auditorium, celebrating the accomplishments of 37 graduating students. The Nurse Pinning ceremony is a symbolic welcoming into the Nursing profession. May is National Nurses Month. Across the United States, community colleges annually produce more than 50 percent of all new nurses and other healthcare workers.
