NYACK COLLEGE/ATS CELEBRATES ITS 130TH COMMENCEMENT
Honorary Degree Recipients Are Leaders in Film, Business, and Ministry
NYACK, NY— On Saturday, May 11 at 2:00 p.m., Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary will hold commencement exercises for nearly 700 graduates at the Westchester County Center located at 198 Central Avenue in White Plains, NY.
Three honorary degrees will be awarded and the recipients will also be inducted into the President’s Hall of Distinction, a Nyack College tradition that recognizes men and women of exceptional accomplishment, who embody Nyack’s core values of being academically excellent, globally engaged, intentionally diverse, personally transforming, and socially relevant. The Hall of Distinction induction ceremony takes place at the Tarrytown House Estate also in Westchester County prior to graduation.
The Doctor of Letters will be presented to Graham Power, founder and chairman of one of South Africa’s leading companies in the field of civil engineering construction, the Power Group of Companies. He is also the visionary leader behind the Global Day of Prayer. The Doctor of Letters will also be given to Micheal Flaherty, president and co-founder of Walden Media, producer of films such as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; Charlotte’s Web; and Bridge to Terabithia. The third recipient, Rev. Thai Phuoc Truong, president of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECV), will receive the Doctor of Divinity. In June 2011, the EVC celebrated 100 years of ministry, beginning with the first Christian and Missionary Alliance outreach to Vietnam. In 1911, three Alliance international workers, led by Robert A. Jaffray, an alumnus of the Missionary Training Institute, precursor of Nyack College, went to Vietnam to establish the first evangelical church.
This year’s commencement will also include the first graduating class of Nyack’s Cheryl Phenicie School of Nursing, who will receive the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The School of Music will celebrate the Rockland campus program’s 75th anniversary.
In the week leading up to commencement day, hooding ceremonies for graduate level divisions, baccalaureate services for undergraduates, and the first pinning and dedication ceremony for graduating nurses will be held at various locations for the Rockland and Manhattan campus graduates.
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Nyack College was founded in 1882 by Dr. A.B.Simpson and currently serves more than 3,400 students in its undergraduate and graduate degree programs. In addition to its residential campus in Nyack, NY and a city campus in Manhattan, an extension site is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Nyack is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and is chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York.
