LaGuardia Community College celebrates
commencement amid COVID-19 pandemic
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2020 25
BY BILL PARRY
Graduates of LaGuardia Community
College in Long Island City traditionally
face more challenges and
hardships than your average student,
but this year the coronavirus outbreak
created even more hurdles for
the 3,253 members of its graduating
class this year.
Class speaker Felipe Maysonet, 36,
earned his associate of arts in communications
studies with a concentration
on public relations and alluded to
the pandemic in his remarks to fellow
graduates during a viral commencement
last week.
“Hold your head up high for we have
not been defeated,” Maysonet said. “I
mean, come on, between classes, work
and life, these few months and this
semester, was no walk in the park. I
mean literally, we can’t even walk in
the park. Thanks, COVID-19.”
In his speech, Maysonet described
growing up in New York City as “poor,
gay and Latino,” while also appreciating
its diversity and beauty. Raised
by a single mother, his family experienced
homelessness and lived in shelters
before moving into a Brooklyn
apartment.
When he was 16, his mother, whom
Maysonet describes as “indomitable,
nurturing and the person who
sparked my passion for activism,”
died from AIDS. This led to several
years of “couch-surfing” with friends
and family while trying to get his life
on track.
Despite trying to navigate through
the hardships and disparities, Maysonet
has given his time and heart in HIV/
AIDS activism. In 2011, he enrolled at
LaGuardia but left soon after to care
for his ailing father, with whom he had
reconnected with. Later that year, his
father died due to complications from
diabetes. Not ready to return to college,
Maysonet found work as a video
production assistant and nightclub
promoter and volunteered for LGBTQIA+
rights, HIV/AIDS awareness,
disability rights and social justice
reform.
Maysonet returned to LaGuardia in
2018 and got involved in college activities
that enabled him to shine a light
on social issues, including the annual
Black Lives Matter Summit. For his
dedication and scholarly achievement,
he received several awards and scholarships
for high-achieving students
including being named LaGuardia’s
2020 ASAP Scholar Valedictorian, and
induction into the Delta Alpha Pi International
Honor Society.
Maysonet has received a scholarship
to complete his bachelor’s at NYU,
where he’ll major in film and communications.
His long-term goal is to start
a nonprofit foundation, “The House
of Maysonet,” to give scholarship
and other support to marginalized
young people.
“I want to see all people represented
fairly and equally, so that inclusion
is no longer an issue,” Maysonet said.
Immigrant rights activist Antonio
Alarcón gave the keynote address.
The 2015 LaGuardia graduate was a
co-plaintiff in the landmark DACA
case at the Supreme Court, which was
upheld on June 18.
“If we all speak up and tell our
stories, then we cannot be ignored,”
Alarcón said. “So, I’m asking you to
use your voice. Use the education you
gained at LaGuardia to change minds,
open hearts and eliminate violence
and prejudice against immigrants,
and other injustices in the world.”
Alarcón’s words resonated with the
3,253 members of LaGuardia’s Class
of 2020 which is made up of 45 percent
who self-identify as Hispanic; 22 percent
as Asian; 16 percent as Black; and
11 percent as white.
“Not only is Antonio Alarcón a La-
Guardia graduate and an immigrant
rights activist, but he bravery shares
his story of being a young child coming
to the U.S. as an undocumented
immigrant. With so many of our students
from immigrant families, his
story is their story,” LaGuardia Community
College Interim President
Paul Arcario said. “As we’re facing a
future impacted by a global pandemic
and social unrest over the killings of
Black fathers, daughters and more at
the hands of police, he encouraged our
graduates to use the knowledge and
skills they’ve accumulated in their
lives, and at LaGuardia, to adapt and
shape our future.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail
at bparry@schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
LaGuardia Class Speaker Felipe Maysonet during virtual commencement last week.
Photos courtesy of LaGuardia Community College
Antonio Alarcón
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