MVCC announces speaker for upcoming commencement ceremony

UTICA, N.Y. — Samuel (Sam) Rowser, executive director of On Point for College, will deliver the commencement address at Mohawk Valley Community College’s (MVCC) upcoming graduation ceremony.

The event is set for May 11 at 4 p.m. at the Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium in downtown Utica.

The nonprofit On Point for College has helped more than 7,600 inner-city youth from Syracuse, Utica, and New York City “enroll and succeed” in college, MVCC said in a news release. The organization has offices in Syracuse and Utica, and partnerships with two groups in New York City, according to its website.

Rowser has spent nearly 30 years working as a mentor to first-generation college students, “helping them to start college, earn degrees, and gain employment,” according to the MVCC release.

“He embodies the organization’s mission: To develop the programs and cultivate the relationships to change the lives of traditional and non-traditional 17- to 29-year-old students by breaking down barriers through access to training, college, and careers for success in life,” MVCC said.

Rowser was also “instrumental” in the training of On Point’s New York City partners and the adding the services of On Point for College in the city of Utica.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with a minor in psychology and a master’s degree in business administration from Columbia College. Before that, Rowser received an associate degree in business administration from Onondaga Community College (OCC).

Before On Point for College, Rowser served as an admissions counselor with OCC and as a career-development specialist at the Southwest Community Center, MVCC said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Photo credit: Mohawk Valley Community College