From Students to Alumni: Nearly 1,500 Degrees Conferred at 2015 Winter Commencement

December 18, 2015 – Stony Brook University held its 18th annual December commencement ceremony in the Island Federal Credit Union Arena, where 1,495 students* had their degrees conferred. Stony Brook’s newest undergraduate, graduate and doctoral alumni range in age from 19 to 73, join more than 150,000 fellow Seawolves who are living and working around the globe.

President’s Remarks

During his commencement address, President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., highlighted the key elements to the Stony Brook experience, congratulated the very accomplished graduating class, talked about the increasing value of the Stony Brook degree and celebrated Stony Brook’s diverse landscape. Highlights include:

• “Your investment in your Stony Brook degree will be one of the best investments you (and your family) ever made. In fact, in the new Federal scorecard, Stony Brook graduates rank 11th among AAU public universities in the average wages they are earning 10 years after graduation.”
• “Your decision to attend and receive a degree from Stony Brook University means you are on a path towards a better life. And I pledge that we will work to improve your prospects even more by increasing the value of your degree as we move towards our goal of being one of the 25 best public universities in the world.”
• “Stony Brook is not a University where everyone looks the same, has the same ethnic background, or comes from the same socioeconomic background. This extraordinary diversity creates a unique environment and, in my opinion, each of you have a very powerful leg up on graduates from other Universities as you enter this new global economy.”

Student Voice

Women and Gender Studies major, Tayisha Saint Vil, selected to address the new graduates by a committee of staff and faculty from a pool of submitted speeches, shared her thoughts about her years as a Seawolf and offered advice to her fellow graduates:

“I encourage you all to defy the laws of nature, to question everything, in moments of adversity explore all of your options, think outside of the box, apply for that position and when people say you can’t, say you will. “

Next month Saint Vil will begin classes toward the pursuit of a Master in Public Health at Stony Brook University’s School of Medicine.

Graduation 2015 Fast Facts

A total of 1,495 degrees conferred as follows:

• 777 Bachelor Degrees
• 556 Doctoral Degrees
• 123 Master Degrees
• 39 Certificates

For more information about Stony Brook University commencement visit, http://bit.ly/1mqbSLb. For information about Stony Brook Alumni visit, http://bit.ly/1IbPoaM.

*Numbers as of 12/17/2015 and subject to change