NEWS
from
Central Connecticut State University
Honored as a "Leadership Institution" by the
Association of American Colleges & Universities
Media contact:
Bart Fisher,
Associate
Director of
Marketing and Communications
(860) 832-1624;
Fisherb@ccsu.edu
Congressman Chris Murphy to
Address CCSU’s
December Graduates in Kaiser Hall Ceremonies
NEW BRITAIN (December 10, 2007)
Central Connecticut State University will hold
Commencement Exercises for undergraduate,
graduate and doctoral degree candidates on
Saturday, December 15, 2007, beginning at 10:30
a.m. in Harrison J. Kaiser Hall’s William H.
Detrick Gymnasium on campus. Fifth District
Congressman Christopher S. Murphy will deliver
the commencement address.
“A total of 813 students are
eligible to participate in this year’s
undergraduate commencement exercises,” noted Dr.
Carl R. Lovitt, Provost and Vice President for
Academic Affairs. “They will be joined by 353
students who are eligible for graduate degrees,
including one candidate who will be awarded
CCSU’s Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in
Educational Leadership.”
Degree recipients have come from throughout
Connecticut and more than a dozen other states
as well as Jamaica and Sweden.
Dr.
Paulette Lemma, Associate Vice President,
Academic Affairs, and Dean of the School of
Graduate Studies, said: “Currently, we have over
2,400 graduate students in attendance. CCSU
graduates students in nine Master’s of Arts
(M.A.) and 29 Master’s of Science (M.S.) degree
programs, as well as a Master’s in Business
Administration (M.B.A.), and two Sixth-Year
Certificate programs.” CCSU also offers the
first doctoral program licensed within the
Connecticut State University System.
Among those receiving graduate degrees, 42 have
maintained a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point
average and one student, Ms. Lee-Ann Marie Flynn
is receiving her third Master of Science degree
at CCSU. Having previously earned an MS in
Educational Foundations and a second in Reading
and Language Arts, she will receive her third
graduate degree in Natural Sciences with a
Science Education specialization.
There will be 289 Master of Science and 31
Master of Arts degrees granted. Additionally
there are 15 Master of Business Administration
candidates as well as 17 candidates for
Sixth-Year
Certificates.
Congressman Murphy is serving his first term
from Connecticut’s Fifth District. He is a
member of the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform as well as the Financial
Services Committee.
Prior to his election to the U.S. House of
Representatives, Murphy spent eight years in the
Connecticut General Assembly, the first
four representing Southington and the 81st
district in the House, and next four years of
his tenure representing the 16th
Senatorial District, which includes the towns of
Waterbury, Wolcott, Cheshire and Southington.
While in the Senate, he was Chairman of the
Public Health Committee.
During his first year in the state Senate,
Congressman Murphy oversaw passage of an array
of landmark bills advancing public health,
including the state’s workplace smoking ban. He
also authored legislation that prohibits
hospitals from engaging in overly aggressive
collection practices against uninsured patients.
In addition, he authored bills that expand
low-cost prescription drug access for the
uninsured, establish new government powers to be
utilized during a bioterrorism attack, and
increase whistleblower protections for hospital
employees.
In
2004, Murphy worked to pass legislation
increasing standards for auto emissions in
Connecticut, and authored passed bills
protecting nurses from being forced to work
overtime shifts while also implementing new
patient safety protections for hospitals. He
also led the fight for increased federal funding
for Connecticut nursing homes. That same year,
Murphy introduced legislation that would provide
funding for stem cell research in Connecticut.
Murphy’s work that year helped lay the
groundwork for future victory on this important
issue, and in 2005 Murphy succeeded in
authoring Connecticut’s landmark stem
cell investment act, one of his “proudest
accomplishments.”
Before being elected to the legislature,
Murphy was a member of the Southington Planning
and Zoning Commission. He grew up in
Connecticut, and attended Williams College in
Massachusetts, graduating with honors and a
double major in history and political science.
In 2002, he graduated from UConn Law School in
Hartford, Connecticut. He lives in Cheshire with
his wife, Cathy Holahan.
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