North Shore Students Help Salem State Honor 2 Years Of Graduates

SALEM, MA — Two years' worth of Salem State University graduates celebrated their accomplishments over two weekends as part of combined graduation ceremonies.

The ceremonies were conducted virtually and with small gatherings because of the remaining coronavirus-related restrictions that forced the school to cancel last year's commencement.

Olivia Perez, of Danvers, and Maria Rodriguez, of Salem, were among the singing performers for the ceremonies that honored 1,500 undergraduate and graduate students from the class of 2021 and more than 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students from 2020.

"I know these gatherings were not what students envisioned when they began their degrees, but from where I stood, the excitement and emotion of commencement filled the room," said Salem State President John Keenan of the school's "Viking Roll Call" events that allowed students to walk across a podium and accept a degree. "It's the least we could do for graduates who have overcome so much, and I'm grateful to our team at Salem State for working creatively to uphold the spirit of commencement in a safe and physically distanced way."

The Viking Roll Call events were held in the Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts, where faculty and staff gathered both in the balcony and outside the theatre to cheer on graduates. All students who participated were awarded a Viking Strong cord in honor of their perseverance in graduating amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The Salem State Graduation Ceremony was organized with such great thought with personalized details at every level," said Helena Diamond, of Danvers, who completed her Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Educational Leadership and currently serves as head of the math department at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Lynn. "I am beyond appreciative that I was able to celebrate my accomplishment with my husband and children with the intimate awards presentation that allowed for my 6-year old daughter to present me with my diploma and announce my name as I crossed the stage.

"After a long year of remote learning, I was able to end the experience by celebrating with my Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study cohort members while enjoying the amazing display of music, food trucks and fun-filled activities. The entire experience from start to finish is now a memory that my family and I will cherish forever."

The speakers for the 2020 ceremonies included: Frederick Kelley IV, of Melrose, for all undergraduate ceremonies, and Lisa McCarron, of Westford for the School of Graduate Studies ceremony.

Commencement singers included Akane Ishida, of Chiba-Ken Chiba, Japan (all 2020 ceremonies); Perez, of Danvers (2021 College of Arts and Sciences and School of Education Ceremony); Rodriguez, of Salem (2021 Bertolon School of Business and Maguire Meservey College of Health and Human Services ceremony) and Matthew Bollen, of Lynn (2021 Graduate School ceremony).

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)