Unity College students of all kinds will celebrate forging their own paths in life to their degrees on Friday, December 15 at 6:30 p.m. during December Commencement. This celebration provides the community with an opportunity to showcase what makes Unity College a great institution: the student contributions – inside and outside the classroom – that have made Unity College what it is. A reception will immediately follow a ceremony in the Tozier Gymnasium.

Unity College President Dr. Melik Peter Khoury will be on hand to honor the 26 undergraduates eligible to receive their degrees from Unity College — and, for the first time in the college’s history, six graduates will also receive their Master of Science in Professional Science degrees after 12 months of rigorous study as full-time distance education students. Two of the seven will be on hand to be hooded as holders of master’s degrees and receive their diplomas in person.

“I really enjoyed being part of the first cohort to have gone through this. Attending was a bit of a spur of the moment decision for me, and I’m super proud,” soon-to-be Master’s graduate Brittany Iafrate said. “I really valued being able to work at the same time I was doing my course load. I’ve laid down roots, started getting involved in the community here, and I didn’t want to put that on hold to go somewhere else. Sustainable living is becoming increasingly important, it’s going to be even more essential in the future.”

“This graduation isn’t just a milestone for these students. It’s a milestone for Unity College,” President Khoury said. “We’ve taken our sustainability science mission to a broader audience: adult learners, professionals, who can now take that knowledge and make an immediate difference in our world. More and more people are looking for this kind of education, and we are here in the thick of things. These are exciting times at Unity. We can’t wait for all our graduates — both undergraduate and graduate — to head out and make a difference in the world.”

Many students honored during the fall semester choose to return in the spring to participate in commencement exercises, but for others, some of whom are immediately stepping into jobs, a return to the college in the spring is not possible. And for the graduate students who choose to attend, the more opportunities to experience an official hooding, the better — online education is about flexibility, after all.

Members of the community and the press are invited to attend the ceremony.