More than 2,100 students graduate from Central

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Central Connecticut State University hosted two outdoor commencement ceremonies on May 17 at Arute Field. More than 2,100 students, including students eligible to graduate in December, participated.

Specifically, 1,178 graduate and undergraduate students graduated from the School of Education, the School of Engineering, Science, and Technology and the College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences; and 1,058 graduate and undergraduate students graduated from the Carol A. Ammon College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences and the School of Business.

According to the Office of the Registrar, 95.1 percent of this year’s graduating class live in Connecticut. Beyond Connecticut’s borders, the Class of 2025 represents 26 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and 13 other countries.

Many students at Central are the first in their families to attend and graduate from a university.  In the case of Amari Contreras and his father, Edgardo Contreras, two members of the same family marked that milestone together. Amari earned his degree in Engineering and Edgardo earned his in Business Administration. 

Another student graduated this year after a successful career in the military. Student-veteran Richard E. Bovey returned to school after serving for 20 years in the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot. Bovey graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in History and a minor in anthropology and will return to Central in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in public history.

This year’s featured guest speaker was Dr. Mohammed K. Yusuf ’03, the vice president of North America Cloud and Infrastructure at Oracle, a multinational cloud technology company. 

Central President Zulma R. Toro; Richard J. Balducci, a member of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Board of Regents; and Student Regent Luis Sanchez-Chiriboga, also addressed the Class of 2025.

In her remarks to the Class of 2025, Central President Zulma R. Toro said, “You leave this campus not only educated but deeply compassionate, equipped with a reserve of strength built through lived experience and academic rigor. And let me be clear: Central didn’t give you that strength. You had it all along. We simply helped you see it—and encouraged you to believe in it.” 

Students at Central Connecticut State University's commencement ceremony on May 17.

(Photo by Johnathon Henninger)

President Toro and Central mascot Kizer at commencement

(Photo by Stan Godlewski)

Amari and Edgardo Contreras

Amari and Edgardo Contreras (Photo by Stan Godlewski)