Alexis Chasney Honored at NTID Academic Awards Luncheon

2014 May 27

As graduating students Friday packed up to head home or to start new chapters in their careers, many paused one last time to look back on their college years and reflect on their achievements.

Several students at Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf were honored with their families and friends at an Academic Awards Luncheon prior to their graduation ceremony, including Alexis Chasney, an ASL-English interpreting major from Goleta, who received the Academic Achievement Award for students earning a bachelor’s degree.

"This is an amazing group of graduates who are going to change the world," NTID President Gerry Buckley said.

Also in attendance was a visitor from the U.S. Department of Education. Michael Yudin, acting assistant secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, was Saturday's NTID graduation speaker.

"I congratulate the students on this incredible achievement," Yudin said at the luncheon. "Too many of our kids don't even go to college. Many drop out in high school. That means many of them become relegated to low-paying jobs, higher rates of poverty and higher rates of relying on social services. Education is not just a moral imperative. It is an economic imperative. So thank you for persevering and putting in the hard hours."