BATAVIA — Hundreds of GCC students will march into the Anthony T. Zambito Gymnasium at 1 p.m. Sunday to receive degrees and certificates during the forty-ninth annual commencement ceremony at Genesee Community College. The Batavia Brass Society will provide music for the event and GCC student (Class of 2016) Alannah Gross will sing “God Bless America.”
Edgar “Ed” J. and Mary Louise Hollwedel will be receiving the Alpha Medal of Service Award from the GCC Foundation.
President James Sunser will be introducing this year’s keynote speaker, local author Bill Kauffman. Born and raised in Batavia, Bill has been a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal and also written for publications such as The American Conservative, The American Scholar, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, The Nation, New York History, Newsday, The Australian and The Spectator of London. Kauffman has authored 10 books, including Look Homeward, America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and Front-Port Anarchists, which the American Library Association named one of the best books of 2006 and won the Andrew Eiseman Writers Award. His book, Ain’t My America, The Long Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle American Anti-Imperialism was named by Barnes & Noble as one of the best books of 2008. Locally, he is probably best known for his Dispatches from the Muckdog Gazette: A Mostly Affectionate Account of a Small Town’s Fight to Survive (2003), the story of Batavia and its changing fortunes.
Following Kauffman’s address, graduates will be presented and degrees conferred. Commencement will recognize more than 600 students including those completing programs of study in August 2016, January 2017, May 2017 and August 2017.
Again this year, GCC will be live-streaming the ceremony allowing parents and family members from around the globe to watch their graduates participate in the commencement ceremony. To view the event through the Internet go to: http://www.genesee.edu/events/commencement/.
Commencement is open to the public, but the seating in the gymnasium is reserved for family and friends of graduates and requires a ticket for entry. The ceremony will also be video cast internally throughout the Batavia campus and can be viewed in the Stuart Steiner Theatre, room T102 of the Conable Technology Building and on every campus monitor including those in the Student Union and cafeteria. Tickets are not required to watch the ceremony in these areas.
Immediately following commencement, the college will host a reception with punch and light refreshments in the Forum for all graduates and guests.
The college provides child care services at no cost during commencement for children eight weeks to five years of age. To register a child, please contact the Student Activities Office at (585) 343-0055, ext. 6261.
