This year’s College of Liberal Arts’ (CLA) undergraduate graduation ceremony will be held at the Liacouras Center on Wednesday, May 10 at 9:30 a.m. The Graduate ceremony will be held at Mazur Hall in room 17, Friday, May 12, at 10:00 a.m. 

We are so proud of all of our graduates! Congratulations to you all.  

This year, we have the pleasure of welcoming Shawn McCaney (CLA '87) as the keynote speaker for the undergraduate ceremony.  McCaney is the Executive Director at the William Penn Foundation. Prior to his appointment as Executive Director, he was the founding program director for the Creative Communities program. Shawn led the creation of the Great Public Spaces grantmaking strategy at the Foundation and through this work he is seeking to expand access to high quality public spaces that engage, connect and serve communities in Philadelphia and Camden. As part of this work McCaney led the formation of a partnership with the Knight Foundation to pilot a new national initiative, Reimagining the Civic Commons - in Philadelphia, which has now been replicated in Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, and Akron. He also developed the Foundation’s two largest grants in its history, a $25 million grant in support of the Free Library’s 21 Century Libraries Initiative and a $100 million commitment to support the City of Philadelphia’s Rebuilding Community Infrastructure initiative, which will transform the city’s libraries, parks and recreation centers. The William Penn Foundation plays a significant role in our region and locally, and McCaney is a pivotal part of this impact.  

This year CLA is awarding its first honorary degree to Joyce K. Salzberg (CLA ’69, SSW ’79) 

Exemplifying Temple’s motto of Perseverance Conquers, Joyce’s wrongful termination inspired her to launch a new business, Sunny Days, Inc., intended to fill a critical need in the field of children’s health care.  At that time, most early childhood diagnoses and treatments of autism and other developmental needs were administered in facilities by nonprofits on large government contracts. The sterile environment was unsettling for those with learning differences, and the long appointment wait prevented proper interventions.  With her background in social work, Joyce recruited other social workers and clinicians and developed a business model based on in-home visits by a clinician for both diagnostics and treatment.  Developing innovative early intervention treatments, Ms. Salzberg successfully grew her business into a national organization and one of the largest in the sector: operating in five states, Sunny Days provided over one million individual treatment sessions over the past two years to advance autistic children’s development.   

  As a leader in the field of social work and children’s health care, Ms. Salzberg chairs the State Interagency Coordinating Council in New Jersey.  In this capacity, she advises the Department of Health in achieving the goals of the New Jersey Early Intervention System.     

Finally, it cannot be overlooked that Ms. Salzberg’s leadership and service have long focused on her alma mater, Temple University.  She is a frequent guest lecturer, scholarship donor, and advocate for professional development and member of the CLA’s Board of Visitors. In 2020 Joyce K. Salzberg donated $1M to name the Colleges' Professional Development Center.  

At the Graduate graduation ceremony, we welcome a keynote speech by Miles Orvell (PhD Professor, Department of English)​ along with a student speaker, graduating doctoral student Naida Elena Montes (PhD, Geography and Urban Studies). Montes was recently named one of Al Día’s 2022 40 Under Forty!