Graduation is quickly approaching for Daemen students completing their last semester this spring. To help celebrate their success and achievement, City of Buffalo Mayor the Honorable Byron Brown will serve as Daemen’s 2022 undergraduate commencement ceremony speaker, and New York State Assemblymember Karen McMahon will serve as the graduate ceremony speaker.

Both ceremonies will be held on Saturday, May 21 at Kleinhans Music Hall, with the undergraduate ceremony to take place at noon, and the graduate ceremony to follow at 4:30 p.m.  

The Grammy Award-winning Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus will be featured during both undergraduate and graduate ceremonies.

City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown

As the fifth-term mayor of the City of Buffalo, Brown has played a critical role in helping Buffalo experience significant progress under his leadership, including more than $7.8 billion in new economic development activity.

Since taking office, Brown has spearheaded many successful initiatives to improve the community, including working collaboratively with law enforcement and community partners to lower crime rates, which have seen a total decrease of 43.35 percent from 2006 to 2020. 

Brown has often been recognized for his dedication to public service and is highly focused on economic development, job creation, diversity and inclusion, and many other community benefits.  

New York State Assemblymember Karen McMahon

McMahon is the New York State Assemblymember for the 146th District, which includes Amherst, Williamsville, and Pendleton.

A Western New York native, McMahon advocates for access to affordable education and health care, job growth, environmental protection initiatives, as well as the interests of women, minorities, and underrepresented people.

McMahon has roughly 30 years experience working as a law clerk to judges of the New York State Appellate Division, Fourth Department, and the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. She has also represented parents of students with disabilities in special education cases.

Additional Information on Commencement 

This marks the first year Daemen’s commencement ceremonies will be held at Kleinhans Music Hall since 2019, due to the pandemic. 

Guests will be required to wear a face mask and graduating students will be required to wear an n95 mask in order to receive their diploma on stage.

Daemen will provide these at no costs to students on-site if necessary.

More information about commencement can be found at Daemen.edu/commencement.