 |
| Graduates follow bagpiper Andrew Hutton '18, honored by faculty members on either side |
Most of these
students made this pilgrimage four years earlier at orientation weekend as they
were welcomed into the Houghton family. They leave campus prepared to write the
next chapter in the story of their lives, bolstered by the knowledge,
experiences, and relationships they have found here.
John Inazu, the Sally
D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law and Religion and a professor of
political science at Washington University in St. Louis, gave this year’s
commencement address. Inazu, also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Advanced
Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, encouraged the class to be
unafraid to seek common ground and to confidently live in faith. “My charge to
you is to go forward, go forward into those messy and risky spaces where you
are called to be salt and light. Go forward into your workplaces and
neighborhoods, go forward in interfaith partnerships and in partnerships with
people of no faith. Go forward in the confidence of the Gospel for the sake of
the church and for the sake of the world.”
This year’s senior class gift, a seedling from the beloved
Houghton Tree of Life that fell during a June 2016 storm, was accompanied by
two special gifts made from the wood of the fallen tree: a bench and coffee
table created by Professor Emeritus of Psychology Daryl Stevenson and senior
Landon Scheaffer, and a branch of the tree that will henceforth be passed
through the hands of all graduates, symbolizing their connection to Houghton
and the Tree of Life.
Houghton College President
Shirley Mullen encouraged the graduates as they entered a new phase of their
lives: “You have been given the challenge to use your gifts in service to the
church, to your local community, and to the world. … Tomorrow, when you first
wake up to the world as a college graduate, commit yourself – in the face of
any fears you might feel – to the twin calls of patience and boldness as you
find the next place of challenge and grace that God has prepared for you.”
This year’s class includes the first cohort of students who
completed their entire degree online through Houghton, as well as 22 members of
the Houghton College Buffalo program completing their Associate of Arts degree.
Snapshot of the Class
of 2017:
Co-Valedictorians:
Marina Cull (Princeton Junction, NJ) and Joseph Gilligan V (Ringwood, NJ)
Salutatorian: Michael
Ganger (West Seneca, NY)
Total # of Graduates:
269 (5 master’s degrees, 241 bachelor’s degrees, and 23 Associate of Arts)
Countries
represented:
* Antigua and Barbuda
* Barbados
* Canada
* Chile
* China
* Dominican Republic
* Ghana
* Korea
* Saudi Arabia
* United States
Honors:
* Summa cum laude: 17
* Magna cum laude: 56
* Cum laude: 28
Sibling Graduates:
* Joanna and Emily Friesen of Sellersville, PA
* Jesse and Kayla Jones of Oxford Station, ON,
Canada
Married Graduates:
* Dan and Rachel Bellerose of Houghton, NY
Allegany County Graduates
Hannah Cornell,
Angelica NY
Luke Duttweiler,
Angelica NY
Briana Hollenback,
Angelica NY
Elissa Tyrrell,
Angelica NY
Christopher Cahill.
Fillmore NY
Daniel Merriam,
Fillmore NY
Hannah Banks,
Houghton NY
Laura Black, Houghton
NY
Joseph Gessler,
Houghton NY
Joshua Haingray,
Houghton NY
John Nelson, Houghton
NY
Deanna Hackett,
Richburg NY
Zachariah
Gildemeister, Rushford NY
Marshall Brady,
Wellsville NY
Kayla Brophy,
Wellsville NY
Samuel Case,
Wellsville NY
Steuben County Graduates
Daniel Hammers,
Wayland NY
Trent Buckley, Bath
NY
Elyssa Schreppel,
Corning NY
Cameron Groff,
Hornell NY
Ian DeHaas, Painted
Post NY
Bethany Rudolph,
Painted Post NY
