BY MORGAN YOUNG; Staff writer

Ali Yalcinanahtar receives his MBA at the Shippensburg University graduate student graduation ceremony Friday night.

About 220 soon-to-be former Shippensburg University students walked across a stage at H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center on Friday to receive their graduate degrees at the university’s School of Graduate Studies commencement.

“(I’m) very thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to come (to Shippensburg University,” said Kelly Stampis, a Johnstown native who graduated with a master’s degree in mental health counseling. “I’m going to miss the community here. I’ll miss going to classes, but I won’t miss the work.”

With SU President William Ruud presiding, G. Bryan Salzmann, the managing partner of the law firm of Salzmann Hughes , P.C. and Shippensburg Borough solicitor, was the keynote speaker.

Salzmann, who earned a master’s degree in geo-environmental studies from Shippensburg in 1994 and founded his law firm in 1995, has undergraduate degrees in management and philosophy from the University of Scranton. He earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Dickinson School of Law.

He has also taught as an adjunct professor in environmental law, water law and land use regulations at since 1994.

While some of the graduates will just be starting in the professional world others, like Sara Grise, who received a master’s degree in biology Friday, will be combining their professional and academic experiences.

The 28-year-old Erie native is a coastal outreach specialist for the Pennsylvania Sea Grant – a partnership of Penn State University, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – which promotes the ecological and economic sustainability of Pennsylvania’s coastal resources.

“I’m just using this experience to further what I’m already doing,” she said.

Although Grise said it feels “great” to have graduated, there are still things about the university that she will miss.

“I think I’ll miss working with all the great people that I met along the way (here),” she said.

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Morgan Young can be reached at myoung@shipnewsnow.com and 262-4753, or follow her on Twitter @ShipNewsGirl.