Providence Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski
Salvador Sarmiento congratulates his wife, Norelys Cosuegra, after she graduates from Salve University University Sunday. Looking on is Ashten Sarmiento, 10.
NEWPORT -- Salve Regina University awarded 651 degrees Sunday during its 63rd commencement on the oceanside lawn of McAuley Hall under white tents that rimmed the Cliff Walk.The university conferred 435 baccalaureate degrees, 191 master's degrees, 19 certificates of advanced graduate studies and 6 doctorates. The school also recognized the work of a father-and-son duo of master carvers by awarding honorary degrees to Nicholas W. Benson and his father John E. Benson, the proprietors of the centuries-old John Stevens shop. The Bensons were the keynote speakers.
Sister Jane Gerety, the president of Salve Regina, said that the class of 2013 came in 2009 when she did and called it a "small but mighty class."
The class had started school during the country's worst recession with the economy in a free fall and Congress at a stalemate. Students had witnessed some of the most dreadful events including a tsunami, shootings across the United States, a massive oil spill, the Arab Spring and the Haitian earthquake, but had reacted by helping others which is the best response, she said.