May 19, 2025

Elms College valedictorian challenges graduates to ‘carry the mission of the college’

REGIONAL
Story and photo by David Martin

Harry E. Dumay, Ph.D., president of Our Lady of the Elms College, presents degrees to graduates at the 94th Commencement Ceremony held at the Mass Mutual Center, Saturday, May 17.

SPRINGFIELD- With great pride and emotion, family and friends of the 2025 graduating class of Our Lady of the Elms College gathered at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, on Saturday, May 17 for the 94^th annual commencement ceremony. Close to 400 students were awarded degrees and certificates.

This year there were four valedictorians: Declan Flynn, Samantha Moyer, Hannah Duggan, and Natalie Pasko.

“Class of 2025, today we are being charged with something bigger. This is a commencement after all, the start of something, a new phase.  There is still a world waiting for us to apply our new knowledge and experiences to affect positive change, to fully carry the mission of the college into all we do and how we do it – our values, our work and our lives,” said Flynn, who earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing, with a minor in management.

Samantha Moyer earned a bachelor of arts in healthcare management; Hannah Duggan, a parishioner at St. Cecilia Parish in Wilbraham, earned a bachelor of arts in elementary education with a minor in coaching; and Natalie Pasko earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design, with a minor in Asian studies.

“I have made a lot of friends, as well as a lot of connections with the faculty and staff,” said Pasko, who remembered being interviewed by Catholic Communications when she graduated from St. Mary High School in Westfield. Pasko attended kindergarten through grade 8 at St. Stanislaus School in Chicopee. She is also a parishioner at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Basilica in Chicopee.

“It is a very tight knit community that helps grow in the faith and they have had so many things around here on campus that have helped grow my faith as well as the community that I have grown accustomed to here,” she said.

This year’s commencement speaker was Christine Ortiz, Ph.D., MIT’s Director of Technology and Policy Program. She shared with graduates some highlights of her career and life on her way to being globally recognized for her work in biotechnology, nanotechnology and materials science advancements. She was also the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering.

“Institutions of higher education can serve as the intellectual compasses in the next era we are facing which is driven by technological transformation. All of you educated in this amazing institution have the skills and capacity to discern and balance the benefits from short-term risks and existential threats and to ensure that technology is approached thoughtfully with deep holistic analysis,” said Dr. Ortiz.

The president of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield, Sister Elizabeth Sullivan and Chicopee Mayor Vieau were also in attendance.

Among the honorary degree recipients were Paul M. Stelzer, the departing chair of the Elms Board of Trustees and brother of Father Mark Stelzer, Elms College chaplain and professor of humanities and Deborah Alstrom Vo, a 1989 graduate of Elms College and programs officer at the Rasumuson Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska.

“I am very honored, very humbled, I am very proud to represent the values that were instilled in me through the college, through justice, community and just sharing. So I appreciate the Sisters of Saint Joseph, the board of trustees and all the faculty and staff and most importantly my friends who supported me when I was here,” said Vo.

At the end of the ceremony, Springfield Bishop William D. Byrne offered a very short benediction in which he asked the audience for an “Amen,” which was followed by thunderous applause.

A video version of this story will be on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel” which airs Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. on WWLP-22 NEWS.