{"id":901,"date":"2022-04-25T12:54:31","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T12:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/?p=901"},"modified":"2024-08-30T11:18:54","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T15:18:54","slug":"mcc-commencement-to-mark-return-to-traditional-in-person-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/25\/mcc-commencement-to-mark-return-to-traditional-in-person-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"MCC Commencement to Mark Return to Traditional, In-person Celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alumnus and advocate for affordable housing to speak at ceremony<\/em><\/p>\n

ROCHESTER, N.Y. \u2013 <\/strong>On Thursday, June 2, Monroe Community College<\/a> will confer associate degrees and certificates in career and transfer programs to its class of 2022 beginning at 7 p.m. in the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The ceremony will also be accessible virtually. Delivering the keynote address to MCC graduates and their families will be Rafe Reginald \u201cReggie\u201d Ellison \u201997 (Hyattsville, Maryland), an MCC alumnus and an advocate for affordable housing and community development; preceded by student speaker Christal Knight (Rochester), who will earn an associate degree in liberal arts and sciences-general studies.<\/p>\n

At this time, all MCC students eligible to graduate may participate in Commencement and anyone \u2014 students, faculty, staff and guests \u2014 may attend without showing proof of vaccination status. Unlike protocols for ceremonies taking place on SUNY campuses, the SUNY mandate for participating students to be fully vaccinated does not apply to MCC\u2019s ceremony. Blue Cross Arena no longer requires attendees at all events to provide proof of vaccination or wear masks, in accordance with Monroe County\u2019s recommendations for venues and event spaces. Masks will be optional at MCC\u2019s Commencement. MCC will support all students, faculty, staff and visitors who choose to wear masks. Event plans are subject to change based on current COVID-19 conditions.<\/p>\n

MCC\u2019s ceremony will be streamed live via www.monroecc.edu<\/a> for those who are not able to attend in person.<\/p>\n

\"Image

Rafe “Reggie” Ellison, an MCC alumnus and 2022 Commencement keynote speaker<\/p><\/div>\n

Reggie Ellison\u2019s MCC story began in 1995 after he completed service in the U.S. Army and started working full time as a night-shift custodial worker while enrolled in MCC. When he first walked through the doors of MCC, he was excited about learning but unsure of his potential and how the college would impact his life. His sociology professor saw his potential and helped cultivate it.<\/p>\n

Her inspiring support, dedication and encouragement changed his outlook and life. He thrived in his studies and personal growth. Years later, he established a scholarship in her honor \u2014 the Professor V. Sumati Devadutt Award for Academic Excellence Endowed Scholarship \u2014 as an expression of how deeply impactful her contributions continue to be for him and many of her former students.<\/p>\n

After earning an MCC associate degree in liberal arts and sciences with distinction in 1997, Ellison furthered his education. He holds two master\u2019s degrees \u2014 in public affairs from Princeton University and in real estate from Johns Hopkins University \u2014 and a bachelor\u2019s in economics from SUNY Buffalo.<\/p>\n

Until his retirement earlier this year, Ellison worked for the federal government for more than 20 years in positions with duties involving the analysis, development, regulatory oversight, and review of affordable housing and community development financing programs and activities. Most recently, he served as senior community development analyst at the Office of the Comptroller of Currency, an independent bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury, where he spent about eight years analyzing and leading the review of the nation\u2019s largest banks\u2019 public welfare investments.<\/p>\n

In other federal positions, Ellison reviewed affordable housing programs, activities and initiatives created and administered by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration, and the Federal Home Loan Banks.<\/p>\n

Ellison\u2019s civic engagement further illustrates his commitment to affordable housing and community development. He served as a commissioner on Prince George\u2019s County Commission for Common Ownership Communities in Maryland and a board member for Veterans on the Rise, which provides services to homeless veterans.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

Most MCC graduates choose to live, work and continue their studies in the Rochester area. Of the career and certificate program graduates from the MCC Class of 2021 who are employed full-time, 87 percent are employed in Monroe or an adjacent county. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, June 2, Monroe Community College will confer associate degrees and certificates in career and transfer programs to its class of 2022 beginning at 7 p.m. in the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The ceremony will also be accessible virtually. Delivering the keynote address to MCC graduates and their families will be Rafe Reginald \u201cReggie\u201d Ellison \u201997 (Hyattsville, Maryland), an MCC alumnus and an advocate for affordable housing and community development; preceded by student speaker Christal Knight (Rochester), who will earn an associate degree in liberal arts and sciences-general studies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":902,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[33,36],"class_list":["post-901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","tag-inspiringeveryday","tag-commencement"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":903,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions\/903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}