More than 650 graduate from Clarkson University

May 11—POTSDAM — More than 650 students received Bachelor's degrees from Clarkson University during its graduation ceremony on Saturday.

Nearly all of the 3,000 seats at Cheel Arena were filled with grads' relatives, friends and supporters.

This is a class of students receiving four-year diplomas who were not old enough to be in college when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in early 2020. That would have been the tail end of their time in high school.

Clarkson President Marc Christensen noted that during his remarks.

"Your last graduation, your high school grad, was disrupted by COVID-19," he said, adding that now is the time to "truly celebrate all you've accomplished."

The student undergraduate speaker, Cameron Cunningham, president of the Clarkson University Student Association, spoke at length about transitioning from high school to college when the pandemic lockdowns were still happening.

He recalled being a freshman, when the conditions were "locked down dorms, masks in the hallways, container food, no guests in our rooms, no gyms, no (in-person) class, no parents to help us move in."

"This is the Clarkson experience. Not the restrictions or the limitations of our environment ... but our ability to overcome that, our ability to grow from it," Cunningham said. "At the time, it was an eternity. Now, it only seems an instant."

"The fact that we sit here makes me say we met the challenge, we overcame it, we grew from it," he said.

P. Hunter Peckham from the class of 1966 received on honorary doctorate degree for his work to give mobility back to people who are paralyzed.

He talked about how he didn't do well as a freshman and lost his scholarship, but he was able to rebound and graduate in four years. Part of his early troubles were having "a roommate who drank and smoked so much he lit the dorm room on fire."

"I'm living proof a poor start does not predict the future," Peckham said.

He also talked about his work creating a computerized device that can be mounted under a wheelchair and connected to a quadriplegic to give them back use of their hands. He said it was a project that took years and wouldn't have happened without other dedicated researchers he connected with. He closed with a piece of advice for the class of 2024.

"Explore a path that truly excites you," Peckham said. "Find people ... who care about what they do and how they treat one another."