May 20, 2002 – A total of 260 students received their diplomas this weekend at University of the Virgin Islands commencement ceremonies on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
The St. Thomas ceremony was held Saturday evening at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center. The St. Croix ceremony was Sunday afternoon on the grounds of UVI's Kingshill campus.
Martha Joseph, president of the Student Government Association on St. Thomas, was the student commencement speaker on that campus. Zahra O'Reilly, a magna cum laude graduate in elementary education, had that honor on St. Croix.
The St. Thomas graduates include who 15 received a master of arts — eight in education and seven in business administration.
Thirty-five students received bachelor of science degrees — 15 in nursing, 15 in biology, two in computer science and one each in marine biology, chemistry and mathematics.
Ninety-three received bachelor of arts degrees, 31 in business administration, 28 in elementary education, 10 in accounting, seven in psychology, five in English/secondary education, four in English, three in biology, two each in humanities and social sciences, and one in speech/communications/theater.
Associate of arts degrees went to 21 students — 12 in in business management, four in accounting, and one each in hotel and restaurant management, office assistant and administration, accounting/business management, computer information systems, and police science and administration.
On St. Croix, 14 students received master of arts degrees — seven in education, six in business administration and one in public administration.
Seven graduates received bachelor of science degrees in computer science. A total of 49 received a bachelor of arts — 18 in elementary education, 17 in business administration, 10 in accounting and four in English.
One student received an associate of science degree, in computer science. A total of 25 received associate of arts degrees — 11 in business management, seven in early childhood education, three in computer information systems, two in accounting, and one each in office systems and police science and administration.
Marie V. McDemmond, president of Norfolk State University, was the keynote speaker at both commencement ceremonies. President Bush recently appointed McDemmond to the President's Board of Advisers on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She received the 2000 Pioneer Award given by the Outstanding Professional Women of Hampton Roads.
As the Class of 2002 graduates prepare to move on to new ventures in life, so will the university's president, Orville Kean. He will be retiring in September after a dozen years in the position. While he admitted recently that his final commencements would be "very touching" events, he said he would have little to say on Saturday and Sunday except to give welcoming remarks.
"Commencement belongs to the students," he said.
Reluctantly discussing his years at the university's helm, he did say that he was proud of his accomplishments. "I'd like to be remembered as a president who made a difference," he said.
Kean noted that about half of his tenure was spent helping UVI recover from the string of hurricanes that hit the territory. When he took over the presidency in 1990, the university was still in the midst of repairs from the devastation of Hurricane Hugo the year before. Hurricane Marilyn followed in 1995, and several lesser storms did damage to the campuses over the next several years.
However, Kean said, the university looked at the need to recover from Hurricane Hugo and the subsequent hurricanes as an opportunity to expand and modernize its facilities.
The UVI Class of 2002 has several notable graduates. Three of them, Janelle Rossington, April Hurlston and Gale Hobson, are participants in Boston University's Early Medical School Selection Program. They returned home to march with their UVI classmates on St. Thomas after spending two summers and their senior year at Boston U. All three received bachelor of science degrees in biology and will continue their medical studies at Boston University Medical School.
Two graduates are fraternal twin sisters who mastered English as a non-native language in the process of working toward their degree requirements. Joscaira Almonte Cabrera and Oscalina Almonte-de Lopez spoke very little English when they started classes on the St. Croix campus in 1997. Cabrera received a B.A. in accounting and Almonte-de Lopez, both a B.A. in business administration and an associate degree in business management.
The sisters are listed in the 2002 "Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities," are members of the Golden Key International Honor Society, and played on the UVI varsity tennis team.
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