Mayor Mike Purzycki delivering DCAD graduation keynote address on May 8

The new mayor of Wilmington will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Delaware College of Art and Design graduation ceremony. Mike Purzycki, a Democrat who began leading DCAD’s home city in January, will address the Class of 2017 during the College’s 19th annual commencement exercises on May 8.

Commencement will begin at 2 p.m. with a procession from DCAD’s academic and administration building at 600 N. Market St. to The Grand Opera House at 818 N. Market St. Once there, the 60-plus-member Class of 2017 will receive their associate of fine arts degrees in animation, fine arts, graphic design, illustration, interior design and photography.

Purzycki is a Newark, N.J., native who received a football scholarship to the University of Delaware. After completing Delaware Law School and being admitted to the Delaware Bar, Purzycki practiced law for more than a decade and served as attorney for the Delaware State Senate. Elected in 1983 as a New Castle County Council member, he chaired the Finance Committee and authored legislation to create the state’s first ethics law. He later headed the Riverfront Development Corp., with his vision and dedication producing a vital and growing riverfront for all Wilmington and Delaware residents.

Purzycki serves as president of the William E. Frank Foundation, sponsor of the annual Gridiron Dinner and Show and benefactor of nearly one million dollars in scholarships and grants. He previously was chairman of the Wilmington Hope Commission and also served on the Boards of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League and the Wilmington Housing Partnership.

Joining Purzycki in addressing DCAD’s graduates will be student speaker Olivia Kwiatkowski, a graphic design major from Smyrna, Del., who is a 2015 graduate of Caravel Academy in Bear, Del. Her speech will focus on the importance of quality over quantity.

Kwiatkowski will spend the summer interning at Triumph Group Inc. in Berwyn, Pa., before transferring to pursue her bachelor’s degree at Pratt Institute in New York City. She previously interned at the Thomsen Reuters publication Super Lawyers Magazine. Both internships were coordinated through DCAD’s Co-Op Program. In addition to her selection as student commencement speaker, Kwiatkowski was one of just four students chosen to present during this year’s DCAD Art History Symposium.

DCAD’s commencement ceremony is by invitation only. A reception for the graduates and their guests will follow in DCAD’s Toni & Stuart B. Young Gallery, where a show of recent works by Class of 2017 members is being displayed on May 6, 7 and 8.

For additional details, contact DCAD’s Susan Coulby at 302-983-5710 (cell) or scoulby@dcad.edu.