OCC celebrates 679 graduates, honors Lyons and Cecile at commencement

Onondaga Community College put 679 students on the edge of the county’s workforce pipeline Saturday, filling SRC Arena with families, faculty and employers watching graduates move toward jobs, further schooling and public service in Central New York.

The college’s 63rd commencement ceremony was held at 11 a.m. May 16 in the arena on West Seneca Turnpike. OCC said the students were eligible to participate after completing coursework in the spring 2026 or summer 2026 semesters, and the ceremony was open to the public and livestreamed on the college’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Student keynote speaker Kierra Yager gave the day its most personal thread. Yager, a member of the Onondaga Nation’s Beaver Clan, earned a GED after leaving high school, then began at OCC in summer 2024 through the Educational Opportunity Program’s Residential Pre-freshman Summer Institute. While on campus, she worked in the Counseling & Community Care Hub, served as a resident assistant and became president of the Native Club. In her keynote, she said education was not a guarantee in her life, a reminder of how many OCC students are building a path while balancing family, work and school.

The ceremony also recognized four honorary degree recipients whose careers are tied to the region’s institutions and civic life. Oren R. Lyons, a Faithkeeper for the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs, was honored for work connected to Haudenosaunee culture, the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Syracuse University lacrosse, the Haudenosaunee Nationals, the University at Buffalo and Native American history and environmental issues.

Joe Cecile, who retired from the Syracuse Police Department in December 2025 after more than 40 years of service, including his last 3.5 years as chief, was also honored. Cecile is an OCC and Syracuse University alumnus, a detail that linked the ceremony back to the college’s own alumni network.

Stephen Fournier, president of KeyBank’s Central New York market for more than two decades, received an honorary degree for leadership tied to the KeyBank Community Scholarship. Kevin and Kathy LaGrow ’79 were recognized for building Learn As You Grow Child Care Centers into a 40-year early childhood education legacy and later giving back through Off-Peak Ministries.

Saturday’s class marked another step up for OCC after about 660 students were eligible in 2025 and more than 400 crossed the stage in 2023, a sign that the college continues to send a larger share of graduates into Onondaga County’s schools, public agencies and local employers.