Adrian College Announces Spring Commencement posted 4/23/10
202 graduates will receive diplomas on May 2

ADRIAN, Mich. - Spring commencement at Adrian College is scheduled at 3 P.M. on Sunday, May 2, 2010 at the Multisport Performance Stadium. It has become a recent tradition to hold the College’s annual commencement ceremony outdoors, however the rain location will be inside the Merillat Sport and Fitness Center.

The traditional Baccalaureate ceremony is scheduled in Herrick Chapel, located on the College campus off of Charles St., at 10:30 A.M. The theme is: "Be Not Afraid" and the faculty homily will be given by Dr. Jennifer Ellsworth, assistant professor of business and accountancy.

Tom Izzo, men’s basketball head coach at Michigan State University, is this year’s commencement speaker and will receive an honorary degree. During commencement, two other individuals will be presented with honorary degrees for their support of Adrian College and their leadership in the community. They are Melissa Sage Fadim and Robert E. Price.

Sage Fadim has been the chairman and president of Sage Foundation (Brighton, Mich.) since 1988. She and the foundation have been and continue to be philanthropic supporters in Lenawee County.

Sage Fadim is currently a member of the board of governors for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and also serves on their fashion committee. She is a member of the advisory board of Gene Siskel Film Center, a member of the board of directors for the Big Shoulders Fund, and is actively involved with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Sage Fadim is an enthusiastic supporter of the arts and higher education. Under her leadership, Sage Foundation has generously donated funds to Adrian College designated to improve Downs Hall, once the setting of the campus chapel in its early years. Today, 150 years later, Downs Hall is the home of the theatre department and this spring will undergo much needed restoration and renovation, enhancing both the interior and exterior of the building, thanks to Sage Fadim and Sage Foundation. 

The foundation and family have been generous donors to Adrian College for nearly 50 years, including scholarship support and the establishment of the Sage Counseling Center in recognition of Melissa Sage Fadim’s father, Robert Sage.

Sage Fadim was born and raised in Tecumseh. She attended Loyola University in Chicago, Hillsdale College and Siena Heights University. She is the mother of four children. She and her husband, Jamey Fadim, an attorney, live in Chicago. 

Robert E. Price has been the owner and president for over 40 years of Primore-SEDCO in Adrian. In all those years, Price, and his father Gorton Price before him, have been strong supporters of Adrian College, through their corporations, personally, and through the Robert E. Price Foundation. In recent years, generous gifts have been directed to Shipman Library and Caine Student Center as well as Renaissance II. Price also endowed the Robert E. and Rosemary Price Scholarship at Adrian which has provided valuable aid to many students.

He joined his father in business in 1950 at Primus Co. in Addison, Mich. In 1953, they sold the company to share holders of Tecumseh Products. Price and his father then established a plant in Adrian known as Primore Products, Inc. As their business expanded, they built a sales and engineering facility, naming it SEDCO Division of Primore, Inc.; a new Primore manufacturing was built next door. 

Price was born in South Bend, Indiana, moved to Royal Oak, Michigan, and joined the U.S. Marine Corps right out of high school. He served for three and a half years, spending two of those years in the South Pacific with the Marines diving bomb squadron. He then attended Michigan State University graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Price remains a loyal Michigan State fan and loves watching Spartan athletic events. He and his wife Rosemary divide their time between their homes at Devils Lake and Marco Island, Florida.  They have one daughter, Kim, who is vice president of Coach in New York City, and one granddaughter, Lulu.

Following the conferral of degrees to this year’s graduates, the College will hold its Cane Ceremony, an Adrian College tradition dating back to 1875. During the ceremony, the graduating class presents the College’s beloved Shepherd’s Crook to the undergraduates as a symbol of achievement and a transfer of responsibility. Before passing the crook, the president of the graduating class attaches a ribbon bearing the name of each class member.