KL
Keelia Liptak
  • Theatre with Spanish Minor
  • Class of 2012
  • Moretown, VT

Keelia Marie Liptak of Moretown graduates from Saint Michael's College with MTV pioneer Tom Freston as principal speaker

2012 May 22

Keelia Marie Liptak, daughter of Alan and Ellen Liptak of Moretown graduated from Saint Michael's College with a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude degree in Theatre at the college's 105th commencement exercises held on the college campus May 14th.

Commencement speaker, MTV media pioneer and humanitarian, Tom Freston, a member of the Saint Michael's graduate class of 1967, told the graduates hard work is key to your future. "My advice," he said, "is really to look for a career in fields that are on the ascent-social innoviation-and bring an old-fashioned work ethic to them."

"There is great value and sustaining dignity in good old-fashioned hard work, whether that means crunching numbers or cleaning bathrooms," Freston said.

Some 478 students received bachelor's degrees and another 65 received master's degrees at the commencement exercises held in the SMC Ross Sports Center. Some 4000 people including graduates and their families and friends, and faculty and staff of the college, located in Burlington, Vermont, heard excellent speeches from two students, from the college president, the chairman of the board, and from main speaker Tom Freston.

Learn What Matters at Saint Michael's College, The Edmundite Catholic liberal arts college, www.smcvt.edu . Saint Michael's provides education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools to lead successful, purposeful lives that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael's College is located three miles from Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns. Identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nations Best 376 Colleges, and included in the 2012 Fiske Guide to Colleges, Saint Michael's has 1,900 undergraduate students and 500 graduate students. Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other grants. The college is one of the nation's top-100, Best Liberal Arts Colleges as listed in the 2012 U.S. News & World Report rankings.