Raymond Khoory, Jr., second from left, a business major from Wappingers Falls, poses with his family: from left, his sister Nicole, his father Raymond, Sr. and his mother Marie.

NEWBURGH – It was a beautiful day for a graduation Saturday and some 700 students received their degrees at Mount Saint Mary College.

Dr. Benjamin Carson, Sr., pediatric neurosurgeon, told the graduates that dreams are essential to success and that he wanted them to have dreams. He told them to be proud of America and remember how America became great by offering education to all and by Americans caring for each other.

Author Mary Higgins Clark also spoke to the graduates. She told them to appreciate what others had done for them. She said that each of them was given a special gift.

The college conferred honorary doctor of humane letters on Carson and Clark, and Allan Atzrott, president of St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, and Joshua Morgenthau who runs Fishkill Farms, a family farm in Dutchess County.

Mount president Fr. Kevin Mackin, O.F.M., congratulated the graduates and their families and friends. As the Mount closed its 50th anniversary celebration year, he acknowledged the Dominican Sisters who founded the college. He offered a few words of advice to the graduates.

“People’s live can be inspired by your excellence, your enthusiasm, your reverence for life,” Mackin said.