Mount Mercy Academy held its 116th graduation ceremony on May 26 at the Avanti Mansion. Forty members of the Class of 2021 received their diplomas from Michele Melligan, Mount Mercy’s Head of School.
Salutatorian Claire Mullen (Orchard Park) welcomed and addressed the audience to open the ceremony. Madeline Lickfeld (Buffalo), the valedictorian, delivered the valedictory address. She thanked the faculty, her parents, friends and classmates for an exceptional four years and said she will miss everything about Mount Mercy. She also commented that it was a different year that changed the class. She urged her classmates to confront change head on and to abandon safety and grow. She will cherish her memories and closed by telling her classmates that “change is inevitable but growth is a choice.”
Denise Mahoney Dunford, Class of 1971, was the graduation speaker. She is an associate professor and director of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at D’Youville College and also maintains an active clinical practice as a nurse practitioner at Buffalo General Hospital. She congratulated the graduates on their accomplishments and for making it through a non-traditional year due to Covid. She also told the graduates that the Mount Mercy education they received had prepared them well for the challenges they will face
Graduate Megan Reilly (Buffalo) was presented with the Frances Warde Leadership Award and Anani Debose (Buffalo) was presented with the Catherine McAuley Service Award.
The graduating Class of 2021 from Mount Mercy Academy earned almost $10 million in college scholarships and merit-based grants.
