Albertus Magnus College to Celebrate 89th Commencement

(New Haven, CT, May 1, 2012)-Albertus Magnus College will award nearly 670 undergraduate and graduate degrees at its 89th commencement exercises Sunday, May 20, at 2 p.m. in front of Rosary Hall, 700 Prospect Street, rain or shine. Among the graduates are the first 26 students to receive the Master of Science in Human Services, and four who will be the first to receive the Master of Fine Arts in Writing. The College will confer honorary degrees of Doctor of Humane Letters upon Dr. Dorsey L. Kendrick, Dr. Ragaa Mazen, Reverend Timothy A. Meehan and Dr. Joan V. O'Brien.

Dorsey L. Kendrick, president of Gateway Community College in New Haven since 1999, is a passionate believer in the importance of higher education and lifelong learning. She is a catalyst for change and committed to helping students maximize their human potential by providing them with the best possible choices for success. She has spent her entire career in education encouraging others to dream, to learn and to become more than they ever thought possible. Dr. Kendrick holds a B.S. degree from Union University, M.S. from Cardinal Stritch University and Ph.D. in higher education administration from Walden University.

Ragaa Mazen, adjunct professor of psychology, psychology counseling coordinator for the Master of Arts in Art Therapy program and director of the Master of Science in Human Services program at Albertus Magnus, joined the faculty in 1973. Throughout her teaching career, she has been an innovator, thinking outside the box to bring Albertus to the forefront of emerging fields of study. The Albertus Master of Arts in Art Therapy, which she developed, is the only program of its kind in Connecticut, and is highly regarded nationally. Dr. Mazen received a B.A. from Ein Shams University in Cairo, and M.S. and Ph.D. from Yale University. Reverend Timothy A. Meehan, pastor of both St. Therese Church and St. Frances Cabrini Church in North Haven, has spent his life in service to the Catholic Church, and supporting the causes of peace and justice. Long a civil rights activist, he was the founder and first executive director of the Office of Urban Affairs for the Archdiocese of Hartford. Committed to the development of affordable housing, he was the co-founder of Connecticut Interfaith Housing Corporation and former chairman of the New Haven Housing Authority. A former adjunct professor at Albertus, Father Meehan received a B.A. from St. Mary's, Baltimore, and a master's in public and private management from Yale University. Joan V. O'Brien, an alumna of Albertus Magnus College and former faculty member, is a retired university professor, dedicated scholar of the classics and author. A penchant for research led to the writing of books offering new concepts on ancient texts. Her ,Guide to Sophocles' Antigone: A Student Edition," published in 1978, was the first extensive commentary on the work since the 1891 edition. Her reassessment of the goddess Hera as a religious, cultural and political figure became a landmark work in the field of feminist theology. Dr. O'Brien received a Master of Arts and her doctorate from Fordham University and had a long and distinguished career on the faculty of Southern Illinois University. Bishop Theodore L. Brooks, recipient of an honorary degree from Albertus Magnus College in 2003, and pastor of the Beulah Heights Pentecostal Church in New Haven, will deliver the charge to the graduates and the benediction.

Albertus Magnus College, an independent liberal arts college, has an enrollment of 2,000 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs.

Honorary Degree Recipients from Previous Years