Molloy sends off 1,000 at Jones Beach

“So I ask the graduates of 2016, where will you serve? And are you open to serve where you are called and where you are needed most?”

With those words from Molloy College President Dr. Drew Bogner, 1,082 graduates received their diplomas last Saturday morning at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater. It was Molloy’s first graduation at the seaside stadium.

Molloy also capped off its double anniversary year — 60 years for the college and 800 years for the Dominican Order of Preachers. Bogner told stories about how the Dominican Sisters first came to America from Germany, how they grew and expanded and how the Dominicans later raised the money to create Molloy College.

Each graduate received a commemorative coin to mark the anniversaries. “You will receive this coin as a way of reminding you of all those who came before you, all of those who constructed the college, and also serve as a reminder of the final essential question,” said Bogner. “What are you willing to risk in your life’s work? To what will you commit that is noble and long lasting, and how it will it make a difference for others?”

Sister Mary Pat Neylon received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the college. “This honorary doctorate is meant for her personally as well as representationally for all the Dominican Sisters, who have served and who continue to serve at Molloy College,” said Bogner. “As well as for all those Dominican Sisters who support us with their love and their prayers and their constant encouragement.”

Neylon entered the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville in September 1961. She taught in elementary schools from 1963 to 1971. From 1971 to 1975, she taught at St. Nicholas High School in Brooklyn and from 1975 to 1978 at Dominican Commercial High School in Queens. Three years later, she was elected Regional Superior for the Brooklyn/Queens Region.