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Tomorrow's graduate commencement to be live streamed

Wadsworth CEO to address Eastern master's students

Willimantic, CT (05/12/2023) — More than 100 graduate-level students from Eastern Connecticut State University will be honored Saturday, May 13, during the 2023 Graduate Commencement and Hooding Ceremony. The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. in the University's Fine Arts Instructional Center Concert Hall and is expected to last 90 minutes.

  • The event will stream live on Eastern's YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@ECSUCommunity/streams

Jeffrey Brown '79, CEO of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, will be the keynote speaker. Brown is a 1979 Eastern graduate.

More than 100 Master of Science students in accounting, education and organizational management are eligible to participate in this year's graduate commencement exercises. In addition to Brown, Susan Cote '06, a 2023 graduate in special education, will also give remarks.

"I am honored to be returning to my alma mater to address this year's master's degree graduates," said Brown. "This is such an important milestone in each of their lives and I am thrilled to be able to be a part of it."

Brown was selected by the Board of Trustees of the Wadsworth Museum of Art in October 2021 to serve as CEO, having served as interim CEO and director since April 2021. He previously served as a trustee beginning in 2012. Prior to his appointment at the Wadsworth, Brown held leadership positions at Newman's Own, Inc. and the Webster Financial Corp.

Undergraduate Commencement

For the undergraduate class of 2023, Eastern will hold its 132nd annual Commencement Exercises on Tuesday, May 16, at 5:30 p.m. in the XL Center in Hartford. Nearly 900 undergraduates in the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Education and Professional Studies are scheduled to receive their bachelor's degrees.

Thomas Gibson '96 will give the commencement address at the exercises on May 16. He is a 1996 Eastern graduate and the current chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Gibson will also receive an honorary degree at the ceremony.

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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving upwards of 4,100 students annually on its Willimantic campus. In addition to attracting students from 160 of Connecticut's 169 towns, Eastern also draws students from 32 states and eight countries. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 68 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal arts foundation grounded in a variety of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 20 public institutions in the North by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022-23 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 13 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.

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