President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D. congratulated students for excelling in their studies and choosing to make the most of their experience at the College. “As I look around this evening, I see many reasons to celebrate,” said President De Filippis. “We celebrate the courage to embrace hard work and change, the perseverance to overcome challenges and stay the course, and the triumph of the human spirit in each of your faces.” President De Filippis thanked the College’s faculty, professional staff and management team, and community partners for their dedication to NVCC’s mission. She recognized fellow college presidents and colleagues who were on hand to award five President-to-President Scholarships to graduating NVCC students transferring to a four-year college or university.

The evening featured many memorial scholarships and industry awards recognizing students of distinction, including the Ruth Ann Leever Memorial Scholarship, presented to a student who has shown excellence in music, the Connecticut Horticulture Society Scholarship, awarded to one student showing outstanding achievement in the field of horticulture, and two scholarships from the Siemon Company for manufacturing and engineering students.

Students achieving a 3.50 GPA and earning a minimum of 24 credits inducted into the College’s Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society were also recognized during the ceremony as well as eight members of the Alpha Beta Gamma business honor society, and 16 members of Epsilon Pi Tau, which encourages academic excellence devoted to the general study of technology.