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New York Assembly Member Jim Hayes Addresses Daemen College Class of 2008
Western New York Assembly Member Jim Hayes (R-148th District) addressed the Daemen College 2008 Commencement. Ceremonies will begin at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, May 17, in Kleinhans Music Hall, in Buffalo. The College awarded approximately 267 undergraduate degrees; 28 combined undergrad/graduate degrees (BS/MS); and approximately 394 graduate degrees, for a total of approximately 689 degrees.
The College also awarded four special honors: Jennifer Joy Barwell a Health Science/Physician Assistant (BS/MS) major from Clarence, NY, received the College’s most prestigious academic award for maintaining a 4.00 grade-point-average throughout her undergraduate years. The award is named in honor of Charles L. Lumsden, a former chairman of the Daemen College Board of Trustees.
Anne B. Stoll, a Graphic Design (BFA) major from Buffalo, received the 2008 Daemen College President’s Award. Each year, the award goes to the student who has demonstrated an outstanding record of leadership and involvement in the College community, in addition to an outstanding concern for his/her fellow students.
The Mary Angela Canavan Award is named for the second president of the College, and is presented to the student who best exemplifies a dedication to and enthusiasm for campus life. The 2008 award was presented to Tiffany N. Goldwire, a Health Care Studies - Community Health (BS) major from Brooklyn, NY.
The Daemen College Alumni Senior Award, given by the Daemen College/ Rosary Hill Alumni Association, went to Michelle S. Kmentt, a Graphic Design (BFA) major from Churchville, NY. The award recognizes an outstanding graduating senior who has made a significant contribution to the College.
In his remarks to the Class of 2008, Assemblyman Hayes told the graduates that education is about much more than facts and figures. He challenged the graduates to “turn loose the visionary inside you.” He told members of the Class of 2008 to “be audacious, and don’t be afraid to challenge authority.”
Citing his own experience in running for office, Assemblyman Hayes told the audience that he failed in his first attempt to get elected.
“But I learned more from that failure than I would have, had I succeeded,” he pointed out. “I took what I learned from that failure, and used it to get elected the next time I ran. And I have been successful each time since then. You must have faith in yourself, before you can expect anybody else to.”
Assemblyman Hayes represents all of the Towns of Amherst and Pendleton and part of the City of North Tonawanda. As Ranking Member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, which deals with state fiscal issues, Hayes has focused on reducing state taxes and borrowing and reforming the budget process.
First elected to the Assembly in 1998, Hayes previously was twice elected to the Amherst Town Board, after serving as a Williamsville Village Trustee and Deputy Mayor.
Hayes, a licensed securities broker, is a registered representative and financial advisor at Wachovia Securities, LLC. Previously, he was director of development for Catholic Charities of Buffalo, where he helped found the Catholic Charities of Buffalo, NY Foundation, to help provide long-term support to the agency's mission of providing basic human services to Western New York families.
Hayes is 1986 graduate of Canisius College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He is a member of the college's DiGamma Honor Society.
A lifelong resident of Erie County, Assemblyman Hayes lives in Amherst with his wife, Renee, and their three children.
Hayes' mother, Thelma Farley, is a 1961 graduate of Daemen, which was then known as Rosary Hill College.
Daemen will grant undergraduate and graduate degrees to students in 40 undergraduate and more than a dozen graduate programs, including Doctor of Physical Therapy. Daemen's distinctive core curriculum emphasizes critical thinking, creative problem solving, communication, and global perspective and information technology skills.