MARLBORO — U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont will address 50-plus members of the class of 2015 at Marlboro College's 68th graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 17, at 10:30 a.m., in Person Auditorium.
“We are very honored to welcome Senator Leahy, Vermont's senior senator and a respected national statesman, who has been a dedicated supporter of higher education over many, many years,” Marlboro President Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, who was chief of staff to the senator from 1983 to 1994, said in a news release. “His global perspective, leadership, and commitment to active citizenship are consonant with the identity and values of Marlboro College.”
“Marlboro College has carved out its place as a valued institution of higher education in Vermont,” said Leahy in a news release. “By encouraging its students to challenge long-held ideas, it is preparing them for a changing world, a world where a 50-year embargo of Cuba has brought us nowhere and global warming stands at our door step - a world where their perspective and ideas are needed now and into the future.”
Leahy ranks first in seniority in the U.S. Senate and is the president pro tempore emeritus. He is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the senior member of the Appropriations Committee and Agriculture Committee.
The senator focuses on human rights, environmental conservation, technology issues, privacy rights, farming, and many other pressing national issues. He championed the national organic standards and labeling program.
In the area of higher education, Leahy has been a consistent supporter of financial aid programs, promoting affordable student loans and increasing funding for Pell Grants and federal work-study programs.
Last year he led a bipartisan effort to clarify the rules around nonprofit lenders, securing the positive role played by the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation for college students from Vermont.
Marlboro's class of 2015 graduates will be regaled by Leahy and McCulloch-Lovell, as well as Marlboro College Board President Dean Nicyper, Dean of Faculty Richard Glezjer, and a senior speaker elected by their fellow graduates.
Each graduate will be presented a diploma while the title of the student's Plan of Concentration is read aloud.
The Plan of Concentration is an independent work of scholarship that occupies each student's last two years at Marlboro.