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SALISBURY, MD---For Salisbury University senior Jon Cox of Huntingtown, MD, getting a college education to enter the teaching profession was a life-long dream. For senior Ellie Adelman of Dover, DE, ³ÉÈ˶¶Òõprovided educational opportunities around the globe.

The two serve as this semester’s ³ÉÈ˶¶Òõcommencement speakers as some 1,143 students graduate in two ceremonies Thursday, May 25, at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center. The first, for the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business and Samuel W. and Marilyn C. Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies students, begins at 10 a.m.. Students in the Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts and the Richard A. Henson School of Science and Technology graduate at 2 p.m.

Majoring in elementary education, Cox has wanted to be a teacher since his own teachers stood by his side during a crisis in his life: the sudden death of his sister in a car accident in 1999. At SU, he has been a member of the Education Club and the Kappa Delta Pi international honor society. In the community, he has served as a “Journal Buddy” mentor at Pinehurst Elementary School in Salisbury, was a “University Readers” teacher at Berlin Intermediate School in Berlin, MD, and has volunteered in several capacities at Pittsville Elementary and Middle School in Pittsville, MD. He has accepted a job as a middle school math teacher in his home county, Calvert, following graduation.

In his speech, he reflects on how he and his classmates may help change the world for the better—from decreasing drop-out rates to discovering cures for cancer: “We have the opportunity and the tools to make the world a better place for everyone. Although ³ÉÈ˶¶Òõ is a relatively small school in a growing town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, our contributions to society are astonishing. Remember that strength, not size, is what determines success.”

A double major in conflict analysis and dispute resolution and Spanish, Adelman got to see much of the world while earning her diploma. While at SU, she studied abroad in Mßlaga, Spain, and spent a semester in Gujarat, India, where she volunteered with the non-profit humanitarian organization Manav Sadhna. The president of the Honors Student Association and vice president of the Spanish and Conflict Resolution clubs and Jewish Student Association, she also was a peer leader for SU’s New Student Experience Program and Bellavance Honors Orientation.

During her speech, she encourages students to follow the advice of Henry David Thoreau: “He says, ‘If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.’ All of the hard work that we have put in here at ³ÉÈ˶¶Òõand all the help our professors have offered us in finding our way will hopefully lead us to build up these foundations to support our wildest dreams.”

Among undergraduates, 551 students receive the Bachelor of Science, 378 the Bachelor of Arts, 61 the Bachelor of Social Work and 14 the Bachelor of Fine Arts. Graduate degrees include Master of Social Work—47; Master of Business Administration—25; Master of Education—30; Master of Science—17; Master of the Arts in Teaching—13; and Master of Arts—7. Admission to commencement is by ticket only. A reception at the Civic Center follows each ceremony. For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the ³ÉÈ˶¶ÒõWeb site at www.salisbury.edu. "