Le Moyne announces commencement speakers, honorary degree recipients

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A columnist with the Washington Post and a Central New York congressman will deliver remarks to the Le Moyne College Class of 2022 during the commencement ceremony set for May 22.

That same weekend, a retired local news anchor and a local public-health official will be among the recipients of honorary degrees.

Le Moyne on Wednesday said it will have co-commencement speakers for its graduation ceremony on May 22 at the Expo Center at the New York State Fairgrounds in Geddes.

U.S. Representative John Katko (R–Camillus) and Jonathan Capehart, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Washington Post columnist will address the Le Moyne Class of 2022. Katko plans to retire this year after serving four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Both Katko and Capehart will also receive honorary degrees from the school.

Honorary degrees

Besides Katko and Capehart, Le Moyne will also award honorary degrees to Dan Cummings, who retired at the end of 2021 as a news anchor and reporter for NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV, Syracuse’s ABC affiliate). His retirement followed a career of news reporting and anchoring that spanned more than 40 years. The Cayuga County native also worked in radio news reporting in Rochester, Ithaca, and at Syracuse’s WHEN-AM.

Le Moyne will also award an honorary degree to Onondaga County Health Commissioner Dr. Indu Gupta, who has served in the role since 2014. In that role, Gupta has implemented health equity, accountability, performance management, quality-improvement policies, and evidence-based practice to guide the work of the health department to “protect and improve” health of the community. Gupta is board certified in internal medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. In her present role, she works to “bridge public health and the health-care sector to improve health outcomes” in Onondaga County. She is also co-chair of the Onondaga County Drug Task Force and is a member of Greater Syracuse H.O.P.E., a local antipoverty coalition.

The honorary degree recipients also include William Whitaker, founding president of the Washington Jesuit Academy in Washington, D.C.; and, in absentia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, “who continues to defend the Ukrainian people, their human rights and freedom,” the college said. Le Moyne is among more than 20 institutions across the nation that will honor Zelensky in this way. He will be awarded a Doctor of Laws.

Le Moyne will present the honorary degrees to Capehart, Katko, Cummings, Dr. Gupta, and Whitaker at a special ceremony in Grewen Auditorium on the Le Moyne campus on May 21 at 10 a.m., the school said.