Ramapo College of New Jersey celebrated its largest commencement ceremony ever Wednesday at the Prudential Center in Newark.

The state college in Mahwah saw 1,516 graduates receive their degrees this year.

Emmy Award winning CBS News anchor Chris Wragge spoke at the College’s 54^th annual commencement ceremony.

A graduate of Mahwah High School and the University of New Hampshire, his professional accomplishments in the broadcasting industry have garnered him 14 Emmys, including three wins in the Best News Anchor category. In addition, he and his CBS News colleagues won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for “CBS Reports: Children of the Recession.”

According to the NorthJersey.com report on the graduation, Wragge told the graduates “Trust your desires, your interests and your gifts, even – and most importantly – when the world around you may not.”

Graduating Class Speaker Gregory Allen, 42, of Ringwood, NJ, an Environmental Studies major, delivered remarks on behalf of the Class of 2012. Allen is the fourth member of his family to graduate from Ramapo College. An entrepreneur, Allen has managed to secure in excess of $20 million dollars in federal and state grants to help construct more than 250 units of affordable housing throughout Hudson and Bergen counties. After graduation, Allen will continue his work on a $70 million dollar redevelopment project in Northern New Jersey where he is converting former landfills into commuter parking lots and large scale solar fields. He earned his degree by attending classes at nights and on the weekend while working full time and raising a family.  

The Award of Merit was presented to Aijaz “Jazz” Tobaccowalla ‘90. Tobaccowalla, 44, of Upper Saddle River, NJ, is a Senior Vice President with Pfizer. He is in charge of business technology for the company’s global biopharmaceutical businesses. His work was recently featured in an article in CIO Magazine and he has spoken on information technology matters affecting business as a panelist at Temple University and at the University of Maryland.

Ramapo also honored College supporters and friends, Lawrence and Theresa Salameno of Allendale, NJ, with  Honorary Doctorate of Letters degrees.

Information from this article was taken from a Ramapo College press release.