The Voice Fall 2011 Highlights
Record number of students participate in
August 20 commencement
Representing the largest number of students to participate in a Hazelden Graduate
School of Addiction Studies commencement, 57 students were awarded diplomas in the school's tenth annual commencement exercises on Thursday, August 20, at the Cork Center on Hazelden's Center City campus. Fifty students were awarded the master of arts in addiction counseling degree, and seven students were awarded the certificate in addiction counseling.
Dr. Valerie Slaymaker, the school's chief academic officer and provost, welcomed graduates and their families to the ceremony. She noted that the graduating class hails from the United States as well as Ireland, England, the Netherlands, Canada and New Zealand. Flags of the six countries were displayed at the ceremony.
Chadwick Walker delivered the class representative address, reminding fellow graduates that "We have been taught the importance of living the life that we ask of our clients, or in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, to ‘become the change you want to see in the world.'"
Cheryl McKinley, chairperson of the Hazelden Graduate School Board of Governors, delivered the commencement address. She challenged the graduates to "carry the message into new frontiers and become the leaders we need."
"The field of recovery needs you and, even more so, the suffering patient needs you," McKinley said.
Through scholarly activity and clinical experience, students at the Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies gain knowledge and skills in the integrated disciplines essential to counseling excellence. And, as the graduating class was reminded by McKinley, every excellent counselor has the potential to help thousands of addicts and their families find recovery.
Published in The Voice, October 2009
