Some 102 baccalaureate degree students and 30 associate degree students from Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley are scheduled to graduate during the college's commencement ceremony, beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, at Beaver Community Center, Penn State Berks campus. The ceremony will recognize students from both the Berks and Lehigh Valley campuses who have completed their degrees at the end of the summer and fall semesters.
The keynote speaker for commencement will be Cynthia Baldwin, chair of the Board of Trustees. Baldwin was the first African-American female judge to be elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. She is a gubernatorial appointee to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, serving since July 1990, and is a past member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing. In 2003, the Mental Health Association of Allegheny County awarded her the 2003 Espirit Children's Service Award for her role in the lives of children with emotional and behavioral problems. Baldwin has been associated with several law firms and has served as attorney-in-charge, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Kevin R. Tobias, manager of the borough of Topton, will be the featured alumni speaker. A Reading native, Tobias is a member of the Penn State Berks Constituent Society and Penn State Berks Advisory Board. He is chair of the Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley College Alumni Society and has also held the position of president of the Berks Campus Alumni Society.
Names of the graduates will be announced in the next few weeks by the University Park campus.