Allegheny College will hold Commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2025 on Saturday, May 10, 2025, starting at 12:30 pm. The festive celebration will feature 307 students walking the traditional path from the Wise Athletic Center down to historic Bentley Hall, for the program. The College expects approximately 3,500 attendees.
The Commencement address will be given by Dr. Dan Porterfield, President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a global nonprofit leadership and convening organization founded in 1949.
Also participating in the ceremony will be Ella DeRose ‘27, Allegheny Student Government President; Professor of Communication and Media, Dr. Ishita Sinha Roy; Allegheny College Board of Trustees Chair, Steven Levinsky; and Allegheny College President Dr. Ron Cole.
Honorary Degrees
This year, the College will award honorary doctorates of humane letters to two distinguished leaders: Dr. Dan Porterfield, President and CEO of the Aspen Institute (and Commencement speaker), and Allegheny Alumna Diane Stutter, ‘72, President/CEO of ShootingStar Broadcasting in Los Angeles.
Since 2018, Dan Porterfield has served as President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. A lifelong educator and former college president, he is the author of the 2024 book, Mindset Matters: The Power of College to Activate Lifelong Growth.
Prior to leading the Aspen Institute, Porterfield served for seven years as the President of Franklin & Marshall College. Porterfield previously served as Senior Vice President for Strategic Development and as an award-winning professor of English at his alma mater, Georgetown University, and as communications director and chief speechwriter for the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Porterfield is active on the National Board of Directors of Teach For America and as a trustee of Colorado College. He was named a White House Champion of Change in 2016 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. He earned B.A. degrees from Georgetown and Oxford—where he was a Rhodes Scholar—and his Ph.D. from The City University of New York Graduate Center, where he was awarded a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities and wrote his dissertation on the poetry of American prisoners.
Diane Sutter ‘72 is actively engaged in both her industry and community. She has served as the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment for five different terms. Sutter is a member of the Advisory Board of Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC). She served on the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Diversity and Inclusion Council and as National Chair of the Alliance for Women in Media.
Sutter has served on advisory boards and committees for multiple universities including Allegheny’s Alumni Advisory Council and currently as Chair of the Board of Visitors for the Center for Business and Economics.
In 2023, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) chose Ms. Sutter as the National Radio Awardee. Radio Ink Magazine recognized Sutter for her service to the industry with a Lifetime Leadership award and named her one of The Most Influential Women in Radio consecutively between 2017 and 2023.
Radio and Television Business Magazine has named Sutter as one of the top Television Executives. The Broadcasters Foundation of America honored Ms. Sutter as a 2017 Ward Quall Leadership Award recipient in recognition of her career contributions to the broadcast industry and the community at large.
Sutter currently consults for radio and television stations, media companies, financial institutions and other organizations.
Notable
The 2025 Commencement caps a record year at Allegheny College for fundraising, new program launches, significant partnerships with Meadville organizations, the opening of Allegheny branch campus ALIC @Bessemer, and the highest number of applications received for the 2025-2026 school year.
Media must RSVP in advance to receive tickets, parking and seating by contacting Jennifer Rignani at jrignani@allegheny.edu. Photos and post-Commencement information will be available Saturday, May 10, by 5:00 pm.
