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When Eyal Sherman crossed the stage to receive his Syracuse University diploma at the University College Commencement Celebration in May, 2009, the world was watching.  Dateline NBC covered this momentous occasion, not because Eyal is rich or famous or accomplished, but because his life story is one of extraordinary triumph over inconceivable odds.

The fact that he cannot walk, talk, or even breathe on his own is almost incidental. A ventilator breathes for him 24 hours a day. “He always understood, even with his challenges, that he would be a college graduate,” his father, Rabbi Charles Sherman of Temple Adath Yeshurun in Syracuse asserts. Eyal’s determination to reach beyond his disabilities is so strong that he was the subject of a research project at SU under the direction of Ed Lipson, Ph.D., a professor in the department of physics at SU.  Continue Reading

Robin Morgan attended college after high school, but left to work full time. Years later, the economic downturn made her rethink her approach, and in her late 40s, she returned to college to finish her degree. Robin’s re-education began at Onondaga Community College and culminated at SU, where she studied part time through University College. At 50, Robin graduated from SU with the highest GPA in her class of part-time students.

At the beginning of her journey, Robin was sure of three things. “I knew SU had an excellent transfer agreement with OCC, that I wanted to make a career change, and that I wished to continue my education at Syracuse University,” she recalls. But shortly after enrolling at OCC, her job was eliminated. At that point, continuing her education was a “calculated risk,” she says. Continue Reading

When Kalpana “Kal” Srinivas left her native India to come to the U.S. as a young woman, she was already well educated. This was in large part due to the efforts of her mother, whose own education had come to a halt at the age of 13, when she was part of an arranged marriage to a 19-year-old man. Determined that her daughters would have more opportunities than she had been given, Kal’s mother sent them to a convent boarding school where the Catholic nuns had a reputation for excellence in teaching and discipline. Kal was a good student who continued on to college after convent school. She earned a degree in biology and chemistry from Rajasthan University with an eye on becoming a physician. But Indian medical schools required a monetary donation from the student’s family that hers couldn’t provide, so her dreams of further education were put on hold. Continue Reading

When Christine Dunagan carried the University College flag as class marshal at her graduation from Syracuse University, she was finishing what she had started 30 years before. Life had intervened in her college journey back then, but as her 50th birthday approached, she was determined to call herself a college graduate. While working as an administrative assistant at Lockheed Martin, Dunagan discovered that her employer offered tuition assistance to employees who returned to school. “I wanted to do this for myself, and I wanted to set an example for my son,” Christine says. Continue Reading

It’s not often that you see a boxer sitting in a college classroom, but Joe Stray did just that before earning his degree from Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences in May. At just 22, Joe was a part-time SU student and the founder, president, and head coach of the Syracuse University Boxing Club. He also coached at Bally Total Fitness and is an amateur boxer for Ray Rinaldi out of West Area Athletic and Education Center. He hopes to someday get out of the ring and move to the front of the classroom, as a sociology teacher. Continue Reading