Student speakers named for Rider's 2017 Commencement ceremonies

The student speakers for Rider University’s Commencement ceremonies have been selected.

Kathryn Weniger ’17, an English major with a concentration in writing, will deliver the student speech at the Undergraduate ceremony on Friday, May 12. Argelis Nivar ’17, who will receive his master’s in counseling services, will deliver the student speech at the Graduate and College of Continuing Studies ceremony, also on May 12.

Weniger participated in several editorial internships as an undergraduate, including at the New Jersey State Division of Travel and Tourism in Trenton and the Sarah Jane Freymann Literacy Agency in Manhattan. An advertising minor, she maintained a 3.1 GPA and received the Dean’s Academic Scholarship. 

She says she has dreamed about delivering the Commencement speech since her freshman year. “I feel that the message I have to leave my class is a powerful and important one. Rider has impacted my life by encouraging me to bloom and grow into a smart, strong, capable and worthy individual.”

Nivar earned a bachelor’s in electronics engineering in 2004 from Johnson & Wales University. Originally from Elizabeth, N.J., he is the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Now the father of two, he currently works as a quality assurance engineer at Zodiac Aerospace – Americas and a counseling intern at The Arc Mercer in Lawrence,  a group that serves more than 1,000 children and adults with developmental disabilities.

“The purpose of commencement must be to share your experiences both good and bad with your colleagues and to remind them that no matter how rough things may seem at times, they always get better,” Nivar says. “As long as you push forward, keep your faith, and be true to yourself, nothing or no one can stop you from reaching your goal. No one can ever take away from you what you have learned and accomplished.”

Rider University’s Undergraduate and Graduate and College of Continuing Studies Commencement ceremonies both take place on Friday, May 12, at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, N.J. Joseph J. Plumeri will be the Commencement speaker and receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws at the Undergraduate Ceremony, which begins at 11:30 a.m. Rochelle R. Hendricks will be the Commencement speaker and receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws at the Graduate and College of Continuing Studies Ceremony, which begins at 4 p.m. 

In addition to these ceremonies, Westminster Choir College of Rider University will hold its annual Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 13,  in the Princeton University Chapel. Joseph Flummerfelt will be the Commencement speaker, who served for 33 years, until 2004, as Westminster’s artistic director and principal conductor.

For more information about Commencement, please visit www.rider.edu/commencement.