MASSACHUSETTS COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS HOLDS 109TH COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY

NORTH ADAMS, MA -- Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) celebrated its 109th Commencement exercises on Saturday, May 17, in the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium. This year, 370 students, including 38 master’s candidates, received degrees. In addition, 27 students received a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS).

U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Massachusetts, delivered the keynote address to the class of 2008. Kerry received a Doctor of Laws. Also receiving honorary degrees this year were retired engineer and MCLA benefactor Arlindo Jorge, who was presented with a Doctor of Humanities; Lola Jaffe, president of the board of directors for the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center Board, who received a Doctor of Fine Arts; and College alumnus and local educator Donald Pecor ’66, who was honored with a Doctor of Pedagogy.

In recognition of their awards, the honorary degree recipients had books placed in MCLA’s Freel Library in their names.

Kerry graduated from Yale University in 1966, where he served as president of the Yale Political Union. After graduating from Boston College Law School in 1976, Kerry worked as a prosecutor in Middlesex County, where he took on organized crime, fought for victims’ rights and created programs for rape counseling.

After being elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1982, Kerry organized the nation’s governors to combat the acid rain that was polluting lakes, rivers and the nation's water supply. Two years later, he was elected to the United States Senate. He is serving his fourth term.

As a U.S. senator, Kerry has helped to provide health insurance for millions of low-income children, to improve public education, protect our natural environment and strengthen the state’s economy. An environmentalist, he stopped President Bush’s plan to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Other work includes that on the Iran-Contra scandal and leadership on global AIDS. As chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, Kerry worked closely with John McCain regarding American soldiers missing in Vietnam and to normalize relations with that country. As the ranking Democrat on the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, he is a leading expert on that region, including North Korea.

The Democratic nominee for President of the United States in the 2004 election, Kerry also worked on a bipartisan basis to craft the American response to September 11th and has been a leading voice on American policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war on terrorism, the Middle East peace process and Israel’s security.

Jorge graduated from UMass-Amherst in 1950. He was one of the first students to receive a degree in electrical engineering from that institution. He went on to receive his master’s in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan.

Jorge began his career with the Electron Tube Division of Sperry Gyroscope Company, developing high-powered final amplifiers (klystrons) for Navy and Army radars; he became section head of the radiation division, where he was an expert on microwave tubes. At the time, the klystron was cloaked in military secrecy and revolutionized high-energy physics and microwave research. The klystron since has been used in satellite communications, airplane and missile guidance systems, and telephone and television transmission. At Sperry, Jorge also co-invented the dual-oscillator radar system.

He later founded Syncor Industries Corporation, a company that manufactured electronic equipment for the United States Navy and Army. Although Jorge technically is retired, one of his current projects is in the area of assistive technology, which allows patients to be transferred to and from a newly designed hospital bed and wheelchair automatically.

In 2002, Jorge and his late wife, Evelyn R. Hampel Jorge ’44, established the Evelyn R. Hampel Jorge ’44 Scholarship at MCLA for students who intend to teach. The gift was made in honor of both the College and the entire education field.

In 2006, Jorge established a second endowed fund – the first endowed chair in the College’s history – The Evelyn H. and Arlindo Jorge Visiting Professorship in Education Endowment Chair. The Fund will enable MCLA to create an opportunity to bring scholars of exceptional merit to the College.

Actively involved in the arts for the past 20 years, Jaffe currently serves as the president of the board of directors for the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, where she has been the guiding force behind the restoration of the Center in Great Barrington.

She serves as vice chair and secretary of the Jaffe Foundation and has chaired the boards of the Berkshire Opera Company and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Jaffe also has been an overseer of the Boston Symphony and a board member of the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Jaffe works to bring appreciation of the arts to younger generations through her work with the Anne Levinson Fund for Experiencing the Arts and her co-sponsorship of the Berkshire Theatre Festival summer program for Berkshire County high school students. She was named the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year for 2005.

Pecor is a 1966 graduate of the College, when he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He went on to earn a master’s degree in history in 1969 from Siena College. He has been an active member of MCLA’s Alumni Board of Directors for more than 12 years, serving as chair of various alumni committees, including the scholarship, nominating, awards and reunion committees. He served as the Alumni Association Board representative to the MCLA Foundation Board and has served as an adjunct professor in the history department at MCLA for many years.

Pecor received the 1992 North Adams School System Teacher of the Year Award as well as the MCLA Class of 2005 Senior Appreciation Award for his outstanding service to the students at MCLA. In 2006, he received the Alumni Association Outstanding Service to MCLA award. He is listed in Who’s Who among American Teachers. He is a member of the North Adams Zoning Board of Appeals, as well as a trustee of the North Adams Library. Pecor recently retired from Drury High School as the dean of curriculum and instruction.