Molloy College sends off 2020, 2021 graduates

Car horns sounded and caps flew in the parking lot behind the Barbara H. Hagan School of Nursing and Health Sciences building at Molloy College as the school held its graduation ceremonies for the classes of 2020 and 2021 on May 18 and 19.

Additionally, Rockville Centre Mayor Francis Murray received an honorary degree.

At seven ceremonies over the course of two days, Molloy graduates and their family and friends watched large screens broadcasting commencement ceremonies taking place inside the Madison Theater from their vehicles. When it came time for students to receive their degrees, they lined up in the theater waiting to walk across the stage while wearing masks and socially distancing.

Molloy College President James Lentini and the school’s administration worked to put together a ceremony that adhered to health protocols and gave the hard-working students their due in person.

“I think it was great for the students to be able to come across the stage and be acknowledged,” Lentini said.

Nursing school 2021 graduate Natania Jean-Gilles said she was excited to gather with her friends for the ceremony.

“It’s a sigh of relief. I’m really glad to just be here right now,” she said, adding that the hardest part of remote learning was not seeing her friends every day.

“Nursing was definitely tough to begin with, so then nursing online was very tough, trying to focus at home and not having clinicals,” 2021 nursing school graduate Kristin McCarty said, “but Molloy made it worthwhile.”

McCarty started her career as a nurse at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn on May 24.

Natalie Gayle, a clinical analyst and nurse practitioner at Stony Brook Medicine, received a post-master’s degree this year after obtaining her initial master’s degree from Molloy in 2017. She was ecstatic to share the moment with her fellow graduates.

“We made it! This is so rewarding to be a part of this celebration,” she said. “It’s a phenomenal school and I highly recommend it.”

Murray received an honorary Doctor of Law from Molloy.

“It means so much to me,” he said. “It’s a college that goes back generations in my family. The mayor’s aunt, Sister Mary Louise Murray C.I.J., taught at the school as a nurse from the 1950s to the 1970s. Additionally, two of his five children worked for graduate degrees at Molloy.

Murray boasts a strong working relationship with the school throughout his time as mayor since 2011. He worked with former Molloy President Drew Bogner to build the Rockville Centre Sports Complex.

Bogner returned as the commencement speaker for the class of 2020 ceremony on May 19 to celebrate with the last class he oversaw in his over 20-year tenure at the school. The class of 2020 had a virtual ceremony last year.

“It is not the same,” Bogner said of the virtual ceremony.

With the class’s return, Bogner was able to see students he got to know and reconnect.

“It reminds me what I really loved about being a college president,” he said, “and that was the students.”