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Worcester State Graduate Students Honored at Hooding Ceremony

Robert L. Shafner told Worcester State College Master’s Degree graduates and candidates to be proud of their degree and Worcester State College at the fourth annual ceremonial hooding ceremony, Friday, May 14. In a lively address, the retiring professor reminded the students that Worcester State College has been recognized as a Best Northeastern College by the Princeton Review for six years in a row and has been named “Best College” by Worcester Magazine five times.

“When someone asks you where you got your degree,” he instructed the grads, “you look them square in the eye and say proudly, ‘I graduated from Worcester State College.'”

Lisa Bockweg Hughes, who graduated with a Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology, told her classmates that Worcester State College offered her “the flexibility I needed.” She added that it “attracted a wonderful mix of students.”

The hooding ceremony, as it is officially known, allows the college to honor each graduate student individually by ceremonially placing their hood on them. The hood symbolizes a level of expertise in a particular field. The ceremony dates back to the time of the medieval universities.

Graduates in the following programs from August 2009, December 2009 and May 2010 were officially recognized:

Biotechnology

Community Health Nursing

Early Childhood Education

Elementary Education

English

Health Care Administration

Health

History

Leadership in Administration

Management

Middle School

Moderate Special Needs

Non-Profit Management

Occupational Therapy

Reading

Secondary Education

Spanish

Speech Language Pathology

Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in School Psychology