Memorial Service
The service was led by Cylon George, the campus chaplain. The service was held in the BTC auditorium and began with a greeting and prayer.
Following the opening, Kelly Sweener, Director of the Center for Counseling and Transfer, read out the names of the deceased students and faculty and staff that were being remembered at the service.
The students remembered were, Michael J. Casullo, Laree A. Farrell-Lincoln, Kristine C. Greco, Jeremiah E. Lyman, Taylor A. Mosher, Jarid M. Valenti, and Ellen A. Zink.
The faculty and staff remembered included Everett M. Ashworth, Sidney J. Bailey Jr., Deborah L. Connors, Timothy J. Dibell Sr., Denise Friedman, Rauf Iman, James S. Millea Jr., Karen R. Monahan, and Robert E. Yaddow.
Loretta Blitstein, Assistant Professor, read the Mourners Kaddish Prayer, which is read in Jewish tradition for the deceased. Alexander Duerr, Student Senate President, read a variation of a poem by Sylvan Kamens and Rabbi Jack Riemer, “We Remember Them.”
Rosanne Raneri sang “You Raise Me Up” by Rolf Lovland and Brendan Graham, accompanied by George on piano after the poem, filling the silence in the room. George then read the eulogies of the deceased.
Family members and representatives from the Hudson Valley community came forward to place a flower in a vase to silently memorialize those remembered.
George opened the opportunity for anyone who wished to share memories.
Two family members of deceased faculty stood and thanked the college for having this ceremony. A friend of a deceased student told the story of how he had met the student and how much he had enjoyed spending time with her. The deceased student’s mother thanked the student for his story and said she was grateful to have her daughter remembered by the college.
President Andrew Matonak read the poem “My Hereafter” by Juanita DeLong. Alexander J. Popovics, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Development, read a reflection and prayer.