Decker College celebrates Class of 2020 with a virtual Commencement

Dec. 16 marked an unprecedented event in the 51-year history of Binghamton University’s Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences ­— a virtual Commencement ceremony.

At 6 p.m. Decker College debuted a video celebrating the students who completed programs leading to bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing, as well as those who earned the Master of Public Health Degree (MPH) in 2020. The video was presented on both YouTube and Facebook. Students completing doctoral degrees — the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing — were honored during a University-wide doctoral ceremony held Dec. 13 (also shown on YouTube or Facebook).

In total, 252 students earned degrees from Decker College this year.

Decker College’s Commencement video opened with a recorded welcome address by Harvey G. Stenger, University president. Michael F. McGoff ’69, MA ’74, PhD ’80, senior vice provost and chief financial officer, announced each graduate’s name on the video, which also included a taped congratulatory message from Decker Dean Mario R. Ortiz.

Ortiz also introduced the student speaker, Alexis Poveromo, a native of Valley Cottage, N.Y., who graduated from Decker’s traditional nursing program and minored in Decker’s health and wellness studies.

“Alexis was involved in several community-health promotion projects and took full advantage of the wide variety of clinical sites to increase her understanding of patient care in different inpatient and outpatient settings,” Ortiz said. “Her senior capstone clinical experience was in the Intensive Care Unit at UHS Wilson Regional Medical Center [in Johnson City], which gave her the clinical competence and confidence to secure a post-graduation position in the Intensive Care Unit at Crouse Health in Syracuse.”

BingUNews interviewed Poveromo in May when she was selected as one of Decker’s student speakers. She told us then she fell in love with Binghamton the moment she stepped foot on campus.

“I liked the diversity of the students, the layout of the campus and the friendly faces of all the workers around the University,” Poveromo said. “I actually cried when I received my acceptance letter from Binghamton (which I didn’t do when I got accepted into other colleges), so I took that as a sign that this was the school for me!”

A love of biology and science combined with a strong desire to care for people led Poveromo to pursue nursing.

“I get extreme joy making other people feel happy and helping others, which is why I want to be by patients’ bedsides and helping them through their toughest moments,” she said.

During her Commencement speech, Poveromo looked back on her time in Decker: “All of our classes, clinical experiences and mentors throughout nursing school have taught us to be the unstoppable critical thinkers, problem solvers and compassionate people we are today,” she said.

She also looked to the future: “We will provide the nursing profession with fresh ideas and a new outlook on how to tackle the emerging health problems this world faces,” she said. “We will emerge as leaders and demonstrate courage to share new, innovative ideas. We will remember that nursing is a blend of art and science, and perform every task with compassion in our hearts.”

Isaiah Buchanan, who completed Decker’s Baccalaureate Accelerated Track program and earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing, was also selected as a student speaker but was unable to attend the videotaping for the virtual Commencement ceremony. However, you can read his and Poveromo’s Commencement speeches in the Undergraduate Commencement Program.