CANTON — Four local students were among more than 500 members of St. Lawrence University’s Class of 2021 who took part in the university’s commencement on Sunday, April 18, in Newell Field House.

Michael Sean Phelan of Saranac Lake received a Master of Education degree.

Alexa L. Barile of Lake Placid graduated magna cum laude (with high honors) with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Sabryna A. Strack of Lake Placid graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Joseph D. Viscardo of Bloomingdale graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

A total of 465 degrees were awarded. There were 450 candidates for bachelor’s degrees, including 273 for Bachelor of Arts and 177 Bachelor of Science, and of which 21 are candidates for summa cum laude (highest honors). There were nine candidates for Master of Education degrees and six candidates for Master of Arts degrees.

To ensure the health and safety of attendees and in accordance with state guidance on large gatherings, graduates were assigned one of four ceremonies held throughout the day, at which they received their diploma covers as they walked across the stage while their names were read aloud. Family members and guests were not able to attend in person but were able to watch the event live online. All speeches and performances were prerecorded.

“The Class of 2021 departs St. Lawrence in a year of devastation and difficulty. But unlike many classes before you, you graduate with a charge at commencement to do the best things in the worst times and to hope beyond calamity,” President William L. Fox (1975) said in his remarks to the community. “The kind of person you are each becoming, based on the acceptance of these hard terms, must also understand the essential necessity of first making mental peace. I will never forget your poise and calm to see it through together.”