Some 1,265 graduates receive their degrees during Salisbury University’s 92nd-year Fall Commencement on Wednesday, December 20, at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center.
During the ceremony, the SU Alumni Association presents its annual Faculty Appreciation Awards. This year’s recipients are Drs. Elizabeth Curtin of the Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts, Diane Davis of the Richard A. Henson School of Science and Technology, Hong Yao of the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business, Brent Fedorko of the Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies.
The Commencement speaker is Brianna Geldner of Middletown, MD, who receives her B.S. in elementary education. As a transfer student from Frederick Community College in Frederick MD, she knew SU was the campus for her as soon as she toured it.
“I said, ‘This is my school,” she said.
That instinct proved correct, as faculty and staff in SU’s Teacher Education Department helped guide her toward her degree. Standouts included Dr. Diallo Sessoms; administrative assistant Lisa Nowak and adjunct faculty member Gerrie Wiersberg, who “became like a school mother to us,” Geldner said. “We could come and talk to her about anything.”
Geldner became interested in elementary education after working with children as a babysitter and through her mother’s preschool. She studied child development in high school. Having interned locally at Prince Street and Pinehurst elementary schools in Salisbury, she plans to return to Middletown and become a substitute teacher in Frederick County while pursuing a full-time position there.
She offered some advice to her fellow classmates, most of whom also will embark on their career journeys following Commencement: “There are going to be challenges thrown at us. You have to accept them and learn from them.”
Among undergraduates, 1,171 students receive the Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts. Some 94 receive master’s degrees.
Admission to Commencement is by ticket only. A reception at the Civic Center follows. For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.
