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CBS’ Charles Osgood, Sen. Schumer Salute C.W. Post Class of 2010 at Commencement

More than 2,500 awarded bachelor’s, master’s & doctoral degrees

Brookville, N.Y. – Urged to “Go for it!” by Sen. Charles E. Schumer but warned to “be careful what you swallow” by CBS radio and TV newsman Charles Osgood, more than 2,500 members of the Class of 2010 graduated under sunny skies at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University on Friday, May 7, 2010.

Schumer acknowledged turmoil in the economy and world affairs, but expressed confidence in the newly minted alumni to prevail. “You are graduating from one of the finest institutions of higher learning not just on Long Island but in the entire state,” he told the graduates. “History shows that when times are tough, Americans (and particularly young Americans), New Yorkers (and particularly young New Yorkers), and college graduates – and particularly C.W. Post graduates – will rise to the occasion.”

Osgood, anchor of “CBS News Sunday Morning” and creator of the radio commentary program “The Osgood File,” the keynote speaker at C.W. Post’s 52nd Commencement exercises, urged the graduates to learn throughout their lifetimes and to keep their minds open, but sounded a note of cheerful skepticism in quoting the Dr. Seuss poem “My Uncle Terwilliger and the Art of Eating Popovers.”

“As you partake of the world’s bill of fare, that’s darned good advice to follow,” Osgood said. “Do spit out the hot air, and be careful what you swallow.”

Thousands of family members and well-wishers joined the graduates and the C.W. Post faculty under the big tent on the Great Lawn. The Class of 2010 includes 1,053 baccalaureate degree candidates, 1,530 master's degree candidates, 243 graduates completing advanced certificates, 22 graduates receiving the Psy.D. in clinical psychology and five receiving the Ph.D. in information studies.

Osgood received an honorary Doctorate of Letters. Honorary Doctorates of Humane letters were awarded to Monsignor Thomas Hartman, founder of the Thomas Hartman Foundation for Parkinson's Research Inc. and former host of the “God Squad” TV show, and Nancy Rauch Douzinas, Ph.D., president of The Rauch Foundation.

The Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to Linda E. Amper, senior vice president for OSI Pharmaceuticals in Melville, N.Y. and a 1975 and 1985 graduate of C.W. Post. The Long Island Secondary School Teacher of the Year Award, which recognizes exemplary teaching, was awarded to Michael J. Chlystun, K-12 director of social studies for the Smithtown Central School District.

Michelle DiDomenico of Plainview, Valedictorian of the Class of 2010, exhorted her classmates to make their own good luck by working hard. “Louis Pasteur once said, ‘Fortune favors the prepared mind,’” the math education major said. “Our education at C.W. Post has prepared us and laid the foundation for us to be able to make the choices that will ultimately lead to our happiness.”

DiDomenico is an aspiring math teacher with a 3.98 GPA, an inspiring work ethic and an idealistic concern for the well-being of young people. Her professors cited her mastery of complex concepts and her willingness to tutor fellow students and take part in extra-curricular activities in recommending DiDomenico for C.W. Post’s top academic honor.

John Tittmann of West Hempstead, N.Y., a music education major and gifted pianist, is the salutatorian of the Class of 2010. Tittmann, who envisions a career as a college professor by day and a musician and music teacher by night, came to C.W. Post with an exemplary academic record and maintained it throughout his undergraduate career. He also seized every opportunity to study and play music, jamming with the C.W. Post Jazz Ensemble at the famed Iridium Jazz Club in New York City and playing Chopin in a concert hall in Poland where Chopin himself performed.

Long Island University President Dr. David J. Steinberg called on the graduates to be “cockeyed optimists” despite challenging times.

“I sense energy and optimism in your generation,” Dr. Steinberg said. “Don’t lose that sense of confidence, because it is your lifeline.”

The C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, located in Brookville, New York, enrolls 8,500 students in more than 255 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in accountancy, business, education, liberal arts and sciences, information and computer science, health professions and nursing, public service, and visual and performing arts. C.W. Post also offers doctorates in information studies, interdisciplinary educational studies and clinical psychology, as well as an extensive continuing education program. C.W. Post is part of Long Island University, one of the largest and most comprehensive private universities in the United States.

Posted 05/07/2010

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