Practicing for the big day! Seniors learned precisely where to sit, when to cross the stage, and how to enter and exit Alumni Field House.
Four years after they passed through the pillars as freshmen, the Class of 2019 passed through once again - this time the opposite way - to signify the end of their college journey here at SUNY Oneonta. They also raised a glass to good friends and bright futures during the senior toast!
Seniors got creative this year with their caps, showcasing their majors, favorite quotes, old photos and even some pop culture references.
To celebrate the Class of 2019, SUNY Oneonta's Office of Communication and Marketing produced an Oneonta rendition of the iconic intro to '90s television cult classic “Friends” with help from a few of our talented seniors.
Students recorded and engineered the song for the video in one of our audio recording studios. Music Industry majors involved included drummer Jonah Cohn, a junior from East Northport, NY; guitarist Thomas Messina, a senior from Washingtonville, NY; bassist Nicholas Frankel, a senior from Dix Hills, NY; recording engineer Lexie Koenke, a senior from East Northport, NY; vocalist Cynthia Lambertson, a senior from Harrison, NY; and vocalist Ethan Teper, a junior from Plainview, NY.
SUNY Oneonta seniors came out to shoot the “Friends” parody the week before graduation. Our actors included: Cynthia Lambertson, a Music Industry major from Harrison, NY; Pat Cammer, a Fashion and Textiles major from Huntington Station, NY; Sha-Niyah Ortiz, a Sociology major from Bay Shore, NY; Megan Veschusio, a Psychology major from Rome, NY; James Bethel, Communication Studies major from Saugerties, NY; and Austin Teitelbaum, a Mass Communications major from Westhampton, NY.
Family, friends and members of the campus community gathered Saturday to celebrate the more than 1,200 graduates. It was a beautiful day, filled with sunshine, smiles and selfies! It was also college President Barbara Jean Morris’ first May commencement ceremony.
Visit SUNY Oneonta's Facebook page for more photos from commencement.
While thousands of people watched the ceremony via the college’s livestream on Facebook, still more saw pictures and videos of the day on their phone via Snapchat. Students and family members used SUNY Oneonta’s special commencement Snapchat geofilters 809 times, and the filters were seen by others more than 72,000 times!
For more coverage of the day's events, find SUNY Oneonta on Instagram and Facebook!
© 2026 SUNY Oneonta