Congratulations to the Class of 2010!!!

Commencement exercises took place on Saturday, May 15 at the Chapel of Mary Immaculate, Mallinckrodt Convent, Mendham, NJ. The Rev. Joseph T. Anginoli, pastor, St. Joseph Church, Mendham, offered the invocation and benediction.

Receiving the Alumna of the Year Award is Sister Joan DiRienzo, MPF, ACS Class of 1974. Sister received a BA in Education at Felician College, an MA in Religious Studies at St. Charles Seminary, Philadelphia, and an MS in Education at Fordham University. Sister Joan also serves on the Provincial Leadership Team and the vocation committee of the Religious Teachers Filippini.

She has served as elementary and high school teacher in schools staffed by the Religious Teachers Filippini and for the past 12 years has served as elementary school principal, 10 of which were in her current school, St. Bernadette in Brooklyn, NY and it is there that she received the 2009 NCEA Distinguished Principal Award. Under her leadership, St. Bernadette School was recognized as a 2008 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School, the only non-public school to receive the honor that year in the State of NY. This award indicates not only the academic excellence found in the school, but also its strong Catholic identity. In Sister’s own words: “There is nothing in life that I am more passionate about than Catholic education! I believe strongly that Catholic education is the surest way of ensuring future leadership for our Church and country. Catholic education lays the groundwork for children to excel academically, grow spiritually, mature socially.”

Dr. Linda Stamato, a trustee of Assumption College for Sisters, delivered the commencement address. Dr. Stamato earned degrees at Seton Hall and Rutgers and completed doctoral studies at New York University. She has served as Dean of her alma mater, Douglas College, Rutgers; as chair of the Board of Governors of Rutgers, and as a member of the Middle States Association’s Higher Education Commission. A prolific writer, she has published numerous articles in scholarly journals and has mediated cases involving education policy as well as a variety of land-use issues, notably violations of clean air and clean water acts and other site-specific matters.

Please click here to view Dr. Stamato's commencement address.