Eastern Connecticut State University

Eastern Connecticut State University's annual graduation ceremony was held at the XL Center in Hartford on May 16, with more than 12,000 family members and friends cheering on their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, as 1,180 undergraduates and 58 graduate students received their diplomas.

Abigail Caselli, a 2017 graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University from Woodbury, delivered the Senior Class Address at the university's 127th Commencement exercises on May 17 at the XL Center in Hartford. As the senior class president, Caselli spoke to a crowd of 1,238 graduates and more than 12,000 family members.

Eleven graduating seniors from Eastern Connecticut State University were recognized at the Honors Program Reception at the conclusion of the 2016-17 academic year. The competitive Honors Program contains some of the university's highest-achieving students, who must undergo a rigorous academic schedule and maintain a high GPA in order to remain in the benefit-rich program.

Among its end-of-the-year festivities, Eastern Connecticut State University recognized the academic achievements of African, Latino, Asian and Native American (ALANA) students on May 5 during the Inclusive Excellence Awards. Nine awards were given for service and 165 students were recognized for achieving GPAs of 3.5 or higher at the fifth annual ceremony.

Three Eastern Connecticut State University students received Library Research Awards at the conclusion of the 2016-17 academic year. The sixth annual awards program recognizes exemplary research projects that demonstrate the ability to locate, evaluate and apply information from the physical collections and online databases of Eastern's J. Eugene Smith Library.

A talented cast of Eastern Connecticut State University students recently performed in "Cantilever," the final Main Stage production of the 2016-17 academic year. The original Eastern production told the story of the apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright, a prolific 20th-century architect who ran a fellowship program on Taliesin West, his extraordinary Arizona estate.

Eastern students from the Korean Samul Ensemble and Korean Music and Culture Class at Eastern Connecticut State University recently presented their annual spring Korean Music Concert in the Fine Arts Instructional Center (FAIC) Concert Hall.

Eastern Connecticut State University's English Department recently hosted English Night -- students displayed research posters, showcased senior seminar presentations and were presented with awards for outstanding performance.

A number of Eastern social work majors were recently inducted into Eastern's chapter of Phi Alpha, the national social work honor society.

A group of gifted mathematics students at Eastern Connecticut State University was inducted into Kappa Mu Epsilon (KME), the national honor society for the field of mathematics, at the end of the 2016-17 academic year.

The Department of Art and Art History at Eastern Connecticut State University hosted its annual Senior Art Exhibition and Awards Ceremony this May. Graduating student artists were recognized and their work was on display in the Art Gallery from May 5-15.

Talented musicians of the Wind Ensemble at Eastern Connecticut State University presented a concert on May 3 in the Concert Hall of the Fine Arts Instructional Center (FAIC).

The World Languages and Cultures Department at Eastern Connecticut State University recently held its annual induction ceremony for Sigma Delta Pi, the national honor society for Spanish.

Sierra Colon of Wethersfield was recently named as the recipient of Eastern's 2017 Cesar Chavez Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes individuals who best exemplify the teachings of Chavez, the late labor leader and human rights activist who advocated for fairness, equity and justice for farm workers. The award also recognizes individuals who have performed extraordinary service in support of the Latin American community by developing, contributing to programs/activities focusing on positive development of minority youth and/or minority educational opportunities and advancement.

A team of Eastern Connecticut State University students from the Business Information Systems program recently won fourth place at the 2017 Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) National Collegiate Conference which was held in St. Louis, MO.

Eastern Connecticut State University's 23rd annual Accounting Banquet took place on April 27, in which students, alumni and friends of the Accounting Department were celebrated and honored.

A group of Political Science students were recently inducted into Alpha Beta Gamma, Eastern Connecticut State University's chapter of the national honor society for political science, Pi Sigma Alpha. The society recognizes the most promising students in the discipline.

Eastern Environmental Earth Science students were recently honored at the department's annual awards ceremony. Students were recognized for research or academic excellence.

Each spring, the Council on Undergraduate Research hosts Posters on the Hill (POH), a highly competitive academic conference in which select undergraduate students present their research to members of Congress in Washington D.C. Only 60 students from across the country are admitted to the conference annually-an acceptance rate of approximately 10 percent.

Talented student musicians at Eastern Connecticut State University performed in the Concert Band's annual spring concert on April 26 in the Concert Hall of the Fine Arts Instructional Center.

Eastern Connecticut State University recently held the annual induction ceremony of Alpha Kappa Delta, the international sociology honor society.

The Percussion Ensemble and Percussion Group at Eastern Connecticut State University presented their annual spring concert on April 29 in the Fine Arts Instructional Center (FAIC) Concert Hall.

A number of Eastern Connecticut State University students were recently inducted into Lambda Pi Eta, the national honor society for the field of communication.

The Jazz Ensemble at Eastern Connecticut State University recently presented their annual spring concert in the Fine Arts Instructional Center (FAIC) Concert Hall.

The Third Annual CREATE Conference at Eastern Connecticut State University took place on April 21. CREATE stands for "Celebrating Research Excellence and Artistic Talent at Eastern," and is the University's premier conference showcasing student research and creative activity.

"Eastern Exposure" is Eastern's campus literary magazine and is published annually. The Eastern Writers Guild works hard all year to produce the magazine, which is composed solely of student work.

The Concert Chorale at Eastern Connecticut State University performed alongside the West Hartford Symphony Orchestra this past April for its annual spring concert in the Fine Arts Instructional Center.

A cohort of high-achieving psychology students from Eastern Connecticut State University was inducted into Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology, on April 24. Psi Chi's mission is to encourage excellence in scholarship and to foster the advancement of psychological science.

Fifteen high-achieving psychology students from Eastern Connecticut State University were awarded Departmental Honors on April 24 at the Psychology Honors Night and Psi Chi Induction Ceremony. Thirteen more students were awarded High Distinction and two others with the award of Highest Distinction.

A number of Eastern biology students recently received awards from Eastern Connecticut State University's Biology Department.