Brookdale Announces 2015 Commencement Honorees

LINCROFT, NJ (April 27, 2015) – Brookdale Community College will honor two Monmouth County activists, two distinguished alumni and more than 2,000 local students during the college’s 45^th annual commencement ceremony, held May 15 on the Lincroft campus.

A total of 2,069 students will be graduating from Brookdale this year, with diplomas handed out during a 10 a.m. and a 3 p.m. ceremony at the Robert J. Collins Arena, 765 Newman Springs Road.

Commencement speakers David Goldman and David Prown will receive honorary degrees from the college for their contributions to the Monmouth County community.

Goldman, an Ocean Township native and current Holmdel resident, is the cofounder and director of the Bring Sean Home Foundation. The foundation began as a grass roots effort to bring home Goldman’s son Sean, who was abducted by his mother and taken to Brazil in 2004.

Since Sean was reunited with his father on Christmas Eve 2009, Goldman and the foundation have become prominent advocates for victims of parental child abduction.

Goldman has testified on the issue at multiple congressional hearings, pushing for passage of the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act. The bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama in August 2014.

Prown, of Red Bank, is the owner and manager of Prown’s Home Improvements, a third-generation family business serving Monmouth County. He has built a reputation as a staunch children’s advocate by working directly with local students of color and spearheading a wide range of youth service programs in the Red Bank area.

Prown’s initiatives include a mentorship program between students at Brookdale and Red Bank Regional High School, established in 2009, and the annual Red Kettle Classic Basketball Tournament.

College officials will also present Distinguished Alumni Awards to Superior Court Judge Teresa Kondrup Coyle and Brookdale women’s soccer coach Katelyn Miller. Six graduates from Manasquan, Freehold, Matawan, Howell and Jackson will receive the college’s 2014-15 Outstanding Student Award.

Tickets are required to attend the ceremony. Those without tickets can watch a live simulcast in Brookdale’s Warner Student Life Center, with parking in lots 6 and 7. For more information visit www.brookdalecc.edu or call the Office of Student Life and Activities at 732-224-2788.