NY Institute of Technology, Old Westbury

Number of

undergraduate

degrees 1,854

Number of graduate degrees 1,717

Keynote speaker

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and was a six-time league Most Valuable Player: "It's been 22 years since I stopped playing professional basketball. Now I can't rely on hoops. I've become a writer and a filmmaker. It all is based on the foundation I got at UCLA and my education. So many of you are also at a point where you are making such a transition. Your lives as students have come to an end and you are going out into the world to make your own way. It's a moment both scary and exciting . . . The preparation you have made here by securing a solid education will serve you well as a foundation for a successful life."

Student speakerMichael Cavalli, 21, of West Babylon: "Whether the economy is good or bad, we all want food, clothes and security. But our generation yearns for something larger -- a sense of community. I look out at you and see the community that is New York Institute of Technology. Today marks nearly six decades of tradition that we, as the graduating class uphold, the tradition of well-rounded students, of global education, of graduates who become leaders."