BOONTON — Casey Edward Gorczyca received a degree from Clark University on Monday, May 19. Gorczyca graduated with a Master of Science in Sport-Esports Administration.
Casey Edward Gorczyca graduated from Parsippany Hills High School in the Class of 2020.
Clark awarded 468 undergraduate degrees and 1,014 advanced degrees during two ceremonies at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass, as part of the university’s 121st commencement exercises.
President David B. Fithian ’87 urged the graduates to celebrate their accomplishments.
“For this day, smile upon yourself, applaud your achievements, reflect upon your growth, celebrate your friends and classmates, and, perhaps most importantly, bask in the love of those here with you and for you,” President Fithian said.
“All of us up here representing the trustees, administration, faculty, staff, and alumni are so proud of you, especially for overcoming all that you have had to in the past four years. We are smiling upon you, applauding you, celebrating you, and thanking you for sharing these years with us.”
Esther Duflo, the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, delivered the Commencement Address during the bachelor’s degree ceremony and was presented with the degree of Doctor of Laws.
“I have no advice for you as you embark on this task, but I have one plea. Do not let anyone convince you that the world is a Hobbesian dystopia where everything is zero-sum and wealth is the ultimate success metric. It’s not a place where there is a concentric center of caring; beyond some radius, the value of others is zero. Think about this day, about how you got here, remember the kindness of many, and ask yourself what you can do to keep that going,” said Duflo.
Temera De Groot, a first-generation college student who emigrated from Guyana when she was 10 years old and plans to pursue law school, spoke to her peers at the undergraduate ceremony.
NPR journalist Ari Shapiro spoke to the students receiving master’s and doctoral degrees, encouraging them to prioritize connecting with and helping those around them.
“All of us carry a baton that our ancestors handed us. And all of us will pass it to those who come after us. Wherever we are in that relay race, there are people we can help. So the question we need to ask is, ‘How can I be helpful?'” Shapiro told the crowd.
At the afternoon ceremony, Shapiro was presented with an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.
Kumar Gaurav, a first-generation college student from India who received his MBA, also spoke at the graduate ceremony.
President David Fithian concluded the day’s celebrations and told the graduates, “I applaud you. I congratulate you. And I urge you to put to work – anywhere in the world you find yourself next – the knowledge you have developed and the skills you have honed here to address the challenges and opportunities we face as global citizens.”
The University conferred 975 master’s and 39 doctoral degrees to a class that included graduates from 41 states and 35 countries.
For more coverage of Clark’s Commencement ceremonies, visit the web.
Founded in 1887, Clark University is a liberal arts-based research university that prepares its students to meet tomorrow’s most daunting challenges and embrace its most significant opportunities. Through 33 undergraduate majors, more than 30 advanced degree programs, and nationally recognized community partnerships, Clark fuses rigorous scholarship with authentic world and workplace experiences that empower our students to pursue lives and careers of meaning and consequence.
