Student speakers for Spring Commencements named
A student who wants to solve food insecurity issues, another who is pursuing a career in wealth management and a graduate who is now working in the emergency room at Cleveland Clinic are featured student speakers at Youngstown State University’s three Spring Commencement ceremonies Friday and Saturday, May 7 and 8, in Stambaugh Stadium on campus.
The in-person graduation ceremonies will be 6 p.m. Friday, May 7, for all Spring 2020, Summer 2020 and Fall 2020 graduates, whose commencements were held virtually and not in-person last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic; 9 a.m. Saturday, May 8, for Spring 2021 graduates of YSU’s Cliffe College of Creative Arts, College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and Williamson College of Business Administration; and 3 p.m. Saturday, May 8, for Spring 2021 graduates of YSU’s Beeghly College of Liberal Arts, Social Sciences and Education, and Bitonte College of Health and Human Services.
The ceremonies are open to graduates, family and friends; tickets are not required. All pandemic protocols, such as masks and social distancing, will be enforced. All three ceremonies will be livestreamed; visit www.ysu.edu. For more information and updates, visit the YSU Commencement page.
6 p.m. Friday, May 7
Andrew Edie, a member of the class of 2020 who earned a bachelor’s degree in Nursing, is the student speaker at the Friday afternoon ceremony. Edie, a graduate of West Branch High School, is a nurse in the emergency room at the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus.
9 a.m., Saturday, May 8.
Jeffrey Senediak, a native of Austintown, Ohio, and valedictorian of the 2017 class at Austintown Fitch High School, earns a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, summa cum laude, and serves as student speaker at the Saturday morning commencement. Senediak a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honorary Society, participated in the Emerging Leaders Program and also was part of a global study tour to Prague, Czech Republic. He served as president of the Williamson College of Business Administration Student Investment Fund and as vice president of Financial Affairs on Student Government Association. He also worked as an orientation leader in the Office of First Year Student Services and in the Dean’s office and career coordinator’s suite in the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services on campus. After graduation, he joins PNC Financial Services Group’s AMG Wealth Management Development Program in Cleveland.
3 p.m. Saturday, May 8
Kennedy Paige Marie Romeo, a 2017 graduate of Ursuline High School, earns a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Sociology with a minor in Nonprofit Leadership and is the student speaker at the Saturday afternoon ceremony. At YSU, Romeo was active in the Sociology Club, Philosophy Club, Presidential Residence Hall Leaders, and the Student Nonprofit Leadership Organization at YSU, as well as the Honors College and Presidential Mentors. She served as the vice president of the Youngstown State Coalition Against Human Trafficking and vice president for Assessment and Enrichment for the Student Government Association, positions she has enjoyed immensely. She now plans to pursue a master’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in nonprofit at Ohio State University. Romeo’s long term plans include traveling around the world, amassing as many books as possible, and working to help solve food insecurity on college campuses and the surrounding communities.