Diane Patrick Speaking at MCLA Commencement

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Diane Patrick, first lady of Massachusetts, will be the keynote speaker at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts's 114th commencement exercises on Saturday, May 18, beginning at 11 a.m., in the Amsler Campus Center Gymnasium.

Patrick, a lawyer, an advocate against domestic violence, educator and community volunteer, will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree.

Also receiving honorary degrees this year will be Elizabeth Coleman, president of Bennington (Vt.) College, will receive an honorary doctor of humanities; John "Jack" Downing, president and chief executive officer of Soldier On, will receive an honorary doctor of public service; and Mardi Crane-Godreau, a member of the faculty at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and a 1998 MCLA graduate, will receive an honorary doctor of science.

In recognition of their awards, the honorary-degree recipients will have books placed in MCLA's Freel Library in their names.

"We will be delighted to hear from Diane Patrick, whose distinguished law career and long record of public service establishes her as an inspirational role model and civic leader. We are thrilled to honor her, along with Liz Coleman, Jack Downing and Mardi Crane-Godreau," Grant said. "The achievements and many contributions to Berkshire County, the country, and the world of these remarkable individuals reflect the character and spirit of the accomplished, dedicated and engaged members of the class of 2013, whom we also will celebrate."

MCLA Board of Trustees Chairman Stephen Crowe also applauded those who will be honored.

"Mrs. Patrick's public service and dedication to her community make her the perfect choice as this year's keynote speaker,” Crowe said. "As president of Bennington College, Liz Coleman's organizational restructuring reinvigorated the campus's educational mission. Through his work with Soldier On, Jack Downing has provided homes, hope, and dignity to our region's homeless veterans. And, 30 years after earning her first bachelor's degree, Mardi Crane-Godreau graduated with her second degree from the college, which led her to a prestigious career in medicine as an educator and cancer researcher."

Patrick earned her bachelor of arts degree in early childhood education in 1972 and graduated with honors from Queens College of the City University of New York. After teaching elementary school in New York City for five years, she entered Loyola Law School in Los Angeles to study labor and employment law.

At Loyola, her academic performance and public service won Patrick an American Jurisprudence Award and the school’s Outstanding Graduate Award. She received her juris doctor in 1980, and was admitted to the California Bar that same year.

In 1983, Patrick joined the firm of O'Melveny and Myers and was asked to assist in the opening of its New York City office. After moving to Massachusetts with her husband, Gov. Deval Patrick, she accepted a position at Harvard as university attorney in the Office of General Counsel, where she spent six years before becoming Harvard's director/associate vice president for human resources.

In 1994, when her husband was selected to head the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights division, Patrick took a job with the Washington, D.C., firm Hogan and Hartson, where she worked with both the education and labor and employment law practice groups. She joined the law firm of Ropes and Gray in Boston in 1995. As a partner at that practice, she has combined her passion for education and her background in labor and employment law.

Patrick is an outspoken advocate for victims of domestic violence and those who suffer from mental health issues.

In 2012, she received Families for Depression Awareness' first-ever Distinguished Service in Mental Health Advocacy Award, created to honor individuals who have gone to extraordinary efforts to heighten public awareness of depressive disorders, empower families in need to seek treatment, and fight the stigma surrounding mental illness.

In addition, Patrick is a concerned advocate in the state's ongoing effort to end domestic violence, and has been actively engaged
with families, agencies and law enforcement to support victims and to identify and address the root causes of domestic abuse.

Throughout her life and professional career, Patrick has dedicated herself to various communities, and has served on the boards of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Jane Doe Inc., and Brigham and Women's Hospital, among others. She also serves on the board of the Posse Foundation and is an overseer at The Epiphany School.

Elizabeth Coleman

Elizabeth Coleman
The ninth president of Bennington College since 1987, Coleman's vision for the liberal arts and their role and reinvigoration in society has been widely recognized. She has spoken internationally on the topic, including at the 25th anniversary TED "Ideas worth Spreading" Conference.

Coleman was previously the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the New School for Social Research in New York, where she founded and directed the school's first ventures in undergraduate education.

Jack Downing

Jack Downing
Downing assumed leadership of Soldier On in 2001, when he became the president and CEO of the organization – the region's leader in providing comprehensive services and affordable housing to low-income, homeless veterans with complex needs. Since that time, Soldier On has expanded from a $600,000 budget serving 250 veterans to a budget of $8.5 million, serving a 1,800 veterans per year.

Under his watch, veterans in the region have access to safe emergency shelter, transitional and permanent supportive housing; support services that help veterans access to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and community resources to meet their medical and mental health, financial planning, transportation, employment, andhousing needs.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's HOME Investment Partnership Program awarded Soldier On in May 2011 with the Door Knocker Award for the Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community in Pittsfield.

Downing has demonstrated leadership on both a local and national scale by enhancing vital partnerships on behalf of veterans, with organizations such as the VA, HUD, the U.S. Department of Labor, the state Department of Veterans Services and the district attorney's office, as he has worked with these organizations to streamline the processes through which veterans receive care.

He has testified before Congress on several occasions on behalf of homeless veterans and, in 2010, Downing was appointed a member of the Joint Civilian Orientation Committee of the U.S. Department of Defense. He is one of the 80 members chosen by the secretary of defense to attend Pentagon briefings.

Downing's prior career positions have included director of aftercare/reintegration for the Berkshire County sheriff's department, founder of the Offenders Advocacy Project in Counseling, director of social services for the Action for Opportunity Program, and an instructor in criminal justice at Berkshire Community College. He has served on the boards of directors in agencies including the Berkshire County Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Berkshire County Neighborhood Youth Corps, the Berkshire Athenaeum and the Eastern Regional Advisory Board of the U.S. Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

Mardi Crane-Godreau

Mardi Crane-Godreau
After earning a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Vermont, an 18-year career as a Pan American World Airways flight attendant and over a decade in marketing and public relations, Mardi Crane-Godreau decided to return to school to earn a second bachelor of arts degree – this time an interdepartment study degree in biology and chemistry at then North Adams State College.

Crane-Godreau said the college was a natural choice because of its close proximity to her home in Southern Vermont. In August 1998, she was accepted into a doctoral program at Dartmouth Medical School, where she studied mucosal immunology and endocrinology. She graduated with her doctorate in 2004 and was Class Day Speaker for the Medical School graduation celebration.

Following two postdoctoral fellowships, Crane-Godreau was appointed assistant professor at the now Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, where she is a member of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. In addition, she is an investigator at Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and the director of the Cigarette Smoke Exposure Analysis Laboratory at Dartmouth Medical School, a shared facility for the study of secondhand cigarette smoke.

Crane-Godreau plays an active role in collaborative research studies that specifically relate to diseases caused by exposure
to secondhand smoke exposure, especially as it has affected the health of former and current flight attendants.

Her publications reflect broad interest in tobacco smoke-induced diseases, especially those effecting innate and mucosal immunity.

Crane-Godreau, who has served on the Geisel School of Medicine Alumni Council since 2012, is also involved in active collaborations with colleagues in the United States and abroad. In addition, she is working to make qi gong, a traditional Chinese meditative exercise, more widely available through new research and educational initiatives.

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