Photo by: MICHAEL OKONIEWSKI
'Cuse Student-Athletes Trade Uniforms for Caps and Gowns
5/11/2018 5:18:00 PM | General, Academics
Syracuse University's 164th commencement will include 120 student-athletes among those wearing caps and gowns at the Carrier Dome on Sunday, May 13. The group, which earned degrees from 10 different schools and colleges, experienced success on the fields and courts as well as in the classroom. More than 40 graduates will pursue graduate or post-graduate school, while 20 have secured full time jobs, and 11 will compete in their sport at the professional level.
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Twelve 2017-18 Orange teams will be represented at National Championship events, including two-time National Champion Justyn Knight, who won the 2017 cross country individual title and the 5000-meters indoor track championship. In addition, 12 student-athletes earned All-America honors and three were named as the conference player of the year. In 2017-18, Syracuse student-athletes posted a 3.1 cumulative grade point average and 64 percent achieved better than a 3.0 GPA.
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Katherine Switzer, who will always be best known as the woman who, in 1967, challenged the all-male tradition of the Boston Marathon and became the first woman to officially enter and run the event, will serve as the commencement speaker. Her entry created an uproar and worldwide notoriety when a race official tried to forcibly remove her from the competition. The photo of this confrontation flashed around the globe and became one of Time-Life's "100 Photos that Changed the World."
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Switzer finished the race but was radicalized by the incident and was determined to create change for women. Now, four decades later, the incident continues to capture the public imagination and is largely the reason Switzer has dedicated her multi-faceted career to creating opportunities on all fronts for women.
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Twelve 2017-18 Orange teams will be represented at National Championship events, including two-time National Champion Justyn Knight, who won the 2017 cross country individual title and the 5000-meters indoor track championship. In addition, 12 student-athletes earned All-America honors and three were named as the conference player of the year. In 2017-18, Syracuse student-athletes posted a 3.1 cumulative grade point average and 64 percent achieved better than a 3.0 GPA.
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Katherine Switzer, who will always be best known as the woman who, in 1967, challenged the all-male tradition of the Boston Marathon and became the first woman to officially enter and run the event, will serve as the commencement speaker. Her entry created an uproar and worldwide notoriety when a race official tried to forcibly remove her from the competition. The photo of this confrontation flashed around the globe and became one of Time-Life's "100 Photos that Changed the World."
Â
Switzer finished the race but was radicalized by the incident and was determined to create change for women. Now, four decades later, the incident continues to capture the public imagination and is largely the reason Switzer has dedicated her multi-faceted career to creating opportunities on all fronts for women.
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