‘CE-Yo’ named graduation speaker

The University of New Hampshire has announced its 139th commencement speaker—Gary Hirshberg, president and “CE-Yo” of Stonyfield Farm.

On Saturday, May 23, the class of 2009, along with friends and family, will assemble on Memorial Field where Hirshberg will address the graduates about green business success and the link between the environment and the economy.

Chosen specifically for the UNH community, which promotes the value of environmental sustainability and organic agriculture, the New Hampshire native has turned a small organic farming school into a $320 million business within 26 years, never losing sight of what’s important along the way.

Stonyfield Farm is an organic yogurt company based in Londonderry that uses safe ecological practices and donates 10 percent of all profits to environmental causes through its Profits for the Planet program.

Winning awards such as Global Green USA’s 1999 Green Cross Millennium Award for Corporate and Environmental Leadership, Hirshberg has become a worldwide speaker and authored the telling book, “Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World.”
“Sustainability is a part of everything we do at UNH,” said university president Mark Huddleston in a press release.

“This year’s ceremony will be a celebration of that fact as well as the achievements of our graduates. … I believe that Gary’s leadership and vision make him an ideal choice for this year’s commencement speaker.”

The 2008 commencement speaker was Michael Brown, CEO and cofounder of the youth service group City Year. In 2007, former presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton served as keynote speakers.

UNH student nabs top honors from national social work organization

It was 1989 and Derek Price was sitting in his Manchester kindergarten classroom. His teacher, who strongly resembled Cruella De Vil, was picking on one of Price’s classmates for being hyper and fidgety.

That was the moment Price realized he wanted to fight social injustice.

“I always think back to my childhood when I was outraged by injustice,” Price said. “I just remember thinking, ‘This isn’t right. No one should be treated this way.’ That one experience had a deep impact on me.”

As an honors-level social work major and senior at UNH, Price has been intensely involved with his community since his early teens through volunteer work at local soup kitchens. Price was recently named Student of the Year by the National Association of Social Work for his activism the social work field.

“Derek is extraordinarily bright and articulate,” said Martha Byam, clinical assistant professor of social work at UNH. “He really understands the systems and how they impact people’s lives. He demonstrates real commitment to social work values.”

During his first two years at UNH, Price was involved in the Student Environmental Action Coalition where he supported projects and was one of two lead planners for Solar Fest. Price is also a trained SHARPP advocate and has given trainings on campus to students for Bringing in the Bystander, a prevention workshop aimed at establishing a community response to verbal, emotional, physical and, specifically, sexual abuse.

Price is currently one of the leaders in the Peace and Justice League, which is dedicated to social activism, and is also a member of the Committee on Rights and Justice, a group that helps refugees and immigrants attain citizenship and aims to end discrimination against this population.

“This award gives me a chance to shine a light on the work that has been done,” said Price. “Words should inspire us to do work on the community and face the issues at hand. It starts with you, me and the individual. It might sound cliché, but everyone has the love and compassion inside them to take action in their communities.”