Bergen Community College: Commencement Concludes Journey For Class Of ‘25

Press release from Bergen Community College:

April 23, 2025

Bergen Community College’s Commencement 2024.

The class of 2025 includes valedictorian Francesco Maneri, the top student among his peers. As valedictorian, Maneri will speak at the ceremony. Maneri’s path to the top student in the class took a circuitous route: he moved to California after graduating from Fair Lawn High School in 2015 to work in the music industry as an audio engineer before returning home to Bergen County to enroll at the College in 2023. Maneri has distinguished himself at Bergen by not only earning a 4.0 GPA, but serving as the co-president of the Dr. Judith K. Winn School of Honors and as an editor of the Labyrinth student literary journal. Studying psychology, he will pursue baccalaureate and graduate degrees in the discipline after graduating from Bergen with aspirations of clinical practice and research. The valedictorian maintains a deep commitment to community outreach, including by participating in peer-to-peer service by providing clothing and food to the homeless, mentoring fellow pickleball players and working as a peer tutor in Bergen’s Cerullo Learning Assistance Center.

Also graduating as part of the class of 2025, Erica Tubera will perform the Star-Spangled Banner. Additionally, the class features members of the College’s Turning Point Program for adults with intellectual disabilities, local high school students who have earned degrees through Bergen’s dual enrollment program and 71-year-old Nicholas Gatti, an end-stage kidney disease survivor, founding member of the food rescue organization Table to Table and retired award-winning executive chef.

Leading the roster of special guests, Eva’s Village CEO, Bergen Board of Trustees member and Bergen alumnus Howard Haughton will provide the keynote address. Haughton, who joined the College’s board in 2023, heads Eva’s Village, a behavioral health and social service organization located in Paterson. In addition to graduating from Bergen, Haughton earned a B.A. from Stockton University. Bergen President Eric M. Friedman, Ph.D., will introduce him at commencement.

Joining Haughton as featured guests, Bergen County Executive James J. Tedesco III and Bergen County Board of Commissioner Chair Mary Amoroso will also speak at the graduation ceremony. Professor Emeritus Charles McNerney, Ph.D., will open the event as the grand marshal before yielding to Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost Andrew Tomko, Ph.D., who will serve as master of ceremonies. Student Government Association President Hanieh Kachooee will lead the graduates in a traditional turning of tassels at the end of the event.

Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.

This press release was produced by Bergen Community College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.