2011 Stony Brook University graduation

Number of

undergraduate

degrees: 3,898

Number of graduate degrees: 2,091

Number of medical degrees: 118

Number of

certificates: 295

Keynote speaker

Samuel L. Stanley Jr., president of Stony Brook University, told students their degrees have value. He urged graduates to help others realize their dreams. "Your lasting and most important achievement at Stony Brook is not your diploma, but what you have learned about learning, about people, about citizenship, and about your own desire and capabilities to make a difference."

Student speaker

"Class of 2011, I am so proud to be a part of the family portrait that sits before me," said senior Michelle Mbekeani, 21, who double-majored in German language and literature, and political science. "The class of 2011 is a diverse group of individuals." Mbekeani, who is Miss Black New York USA 2011, plans to attend University of Chicago Law School. "We are all united by the values of this institution," she told fellow graduates.