BSC to Hold 168th Commencement Ceremony

Bridgewater State College's 168th spring commencement ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.This year's keynote speaker and honorary degree recipient will be the Honorable Deval L. Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Governor Patrick was elected in November of 2006. He brings to the governor's office a broad range of leadership experiences at the top levels of business, government and non-profits. From an early age, he has built his life on hope, and traced a trajectory from the South Side of Chicago to the U.S. Justice Department, Fortune 500 boardrooms and now the Massachusetts State House.

Governor Patrick, the commonwealth's first African-American Governor, came into office with a grassroots message of hope, community and hard work. By focusing on transparency and inclusion, he hopes to increase accessibility to government and encourage the civic engagement so crucial to shared progress in education, health care, economic development and other issues.

He will be awarded an honorary degree in public service.

Mr. Henry Jose Santos of Middleboro is this year's Distinguished Service Award recipient. Mr. Santos, professor emeritus of music at Bridgewater State College, has studied and performed throughout the United States and Europe. Among his performances are those at Jordan Hall and in Paris, New York, Philadelphia among other cities. He was a finalist in the Louis Moreau Gottschalk Competition for Pianists and Composers sponsored by the Pan-American Association and was selected to perform a prize-winning composition.

Professor Santos completed undergraduate and graduate training at Boston University, where he studied piano with Alfredo Fondacaro and composition with Dr. Hugo Norden. He was also a studio accompanist for the noted African-American concert tenor Roland Hayes.

This year's ceremonies will be held on the Boyden Hall Quadrangle.


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