School of Management Commencement 2024: Grads told to make their stories worth sharing
Commencement ceremony celebrates 418 bachelor's, 286 master's graduates
The world is fast-paced, but for the School of Management (SOM) Class of 2024, prepared to meet the demands of an evolving business landscape, Dean Shelley Dionne’s message was simple.
Take your time. Read. Learn.
“Read every day, especially the news from around the world. Read professional publications, journal articles, children’s stories and position papers,” Dionne said. “And read books — all kinds of books. Read authors you agree with and authors you don’t agree with, but let the process be thoughtful and contemplative, and more importantly, unfold over time.”
A lifelong commitment to reading is a lifelong commitment to learning, Dionne told graduates, adding she has yet to meet anyone who’s said, “I wish I hadn’t learned so much in my lifetime.”
The SOM Commencement ceremony Friday, May 10, awarded more than 400 students with bachelor’s degrees, nearly 300 graduate degrees and two doctoral degrees. Graduates are leaving after a year that brought impressive accolades for SOM, including the recently STEM-certified MBA program’s ranking in the top 100 nationwide, ranking as a top 10 public business school for a third straight year and being named among the top 10 nationally for internship placement.
For student speaker Nora Monasheri ’23, became a place to fulfill her academic and professional ambitions while also offering one of the most robust Jewish college communities of any university. Looking ahead to the next chapter, she said, the greatest lesson she’ll take away can be expressed in the Yiddish term “besheret” — it is all meant to be.
Monasheri then addressed her mother, who emigrated to the U.S. from Iran as a teenager to avoid religious persecution, as well as her fellow graduates and proudly proclaimed how helped her become her best self.
“During my time here, I tried to enrich my concentric circles academically, professionally, and religiously by taking leadership positions on various boards. At some point, I realized I had a name and a brand, like ‘Nora the Explorer.’ I strived to keep those who relied on me happy. But more importantly, I had the responsibility to represent without bias,” she said.
“I now know I can only be myself, Nora,” she continued. “Even as I listened to and respected divergent views, I have only one truth, and I had to stand by it. It really was all besheret; it was meant to be.”
Beyond the academic rigors they encountered and the professional demands to come,
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald Hall urged graduates to consider what’s best for themselves and pursue a path they truly want.
“But as you make your way forward, remember to define your value to prospective employers,” Hall said. “Show them that you know how to solve problems, that you know how to ‘play well with others on teams,’ that you learned to be a leader at .”
Addressing the graduates, University President Harvey Stenger expressed confidence in their ambition and dedication, saying they’re capable of meeting any challenge.
“We live in a world that requires capable professionals who have broad perspectives and who want to work to improve our businesses and institutions or who have dreams of an entrepreneurial future,” Stenger said. “We need people who can think critically, analyze precisely, address complex ideas and have been educated in a way that encourages and develops an ethical perspective in business.”
Alumni speaker Michael Lane ’89, chairman of U.S. Wealth for BlackRock and a member of the U.S. Wealth Executive Committee and the BlackRock Global Operating Committee, shared three themes — resilience, reputation and recognition — for SOM graduates embarking on their career journeys. The publisher of three books as well as a range of articles on financial planning, Lane has also co-led a not-for-profit initiative to bring diverse talent into the financial services industry.
But the foundation had to start somewhere. For Lane, it was working jobs gathering carts at Wegmans during winter break without boots or gloves, bussing and waiting tables, bartending after he turned 18 and selling shoes for Endicott-Johnson.
The secret to reaching levels of success that surpass your expectations, Lane told graduates, is to expect nothing to come easy.
“Be resilient, tell your story, develop a reputation we all get to read about (in a good way),” he said, “and know that from this day forward, you have earned the respect and the recognition of having accomplished something special by graduating from the School of Management.”
More SOM Class of 2024 stories
Meet two of our graduates who, like so many others in the Class of 2024, have some inspiring stories to share: