In addition to celebrating the graduation of hundreds of students, SUNY Oswego’s May Commencement on May 17 will provide honorary doctoral degrees to two accomplished alumni and feature a special distinguished guest speaker.

  • Ambassador Erastus Ekitela Lokaale, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya to the United Nations, will speak at the 9 a.m. ceremony for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. 
  • Constance Schwartz-Morini of the Class of 1990, the co-founder and CEO of highly successful SMAC Entertainment, will speak at the 12:30 p.m. School of Business ceremony.
  • Pioneering ESPN SportsCenter anchor and Hall of Fame broadcaster Linda Cohn of Oswego’s Class of 1981 will speak at the 4 p.m. ceremony for the School of Communication, Media and the Arts and the School of Education.

The two SUNY Oswego alumni, Schwartz-Morini and Cohn, both will earn honorary doctor in humane letters degrees from SUNY honoring their outstanding contributions.

Ambassador and human rights leader

Ambassador Lokaale is a diplomat, human rights lawyer, development practitioner and politician with more than two decades’ experience in diverse fields of practice. 

Since August 2024, he has served as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. In addition to spearheading Kenya’s diplomatic engagements at the UN, he has served on the executive boards of UNICEF, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNFPA and as vice-chair of the United Nations Peace Building Commission. 

He is currently co-facilitator of the World Summit on the Information Society +20 Outcome Review and a member of the Executive Board of the International Association of Permanent Representatives. Ambassador Lokaale visited SUNY Oswego in December 2024 to discuss potential partnerships between the university and Kenya. 

Prior to taking up his post at the UN in New York, Ambassador Lokaale headed the Presidential Secretariat of the High-Level Mediation for South Sudan (“Tumaini Initiative”) domiciled at the State Department for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya. 

He served as a Climate Change Advisor in the State Department for Foreign Affairs and played an important role during the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment meetings, the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi and at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 28th Conference of Parties. 

For five years, he served as the Speaker and Head of the Legislative Assembly of Turkana County in Kenya and spearheaded legislative and policy development on climate change, access to water and sanitation and community health, among others. 

He has vast experience in human rights, international development, peace-building and conflict prevention in Kenya, Africa and globally having worked with the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Oxfam Novib in Somalia and the UNDP. 

Ambassador Lokaale also served in special assignments for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNDP Zambia and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in India. 

He holds a master of laws in international development and human rights from the University of Warwick (UK), a diploma in legal studies from the Kenya School of Law and a bachelor of laws from the University of Nairobi (Kenya). 

Brand-building entrepreneur 

Schwartz-Morini is co-founder and CEO of SMAC Entertainment, a talent management firm, business incubator, brand-building enterprise and Emmy-nominated production company she co-founded with Michael Strahan in 2011.

Her career spans more than three decades across sports, entertainment, music and media. She developed the modern playbook for athletes and entertainers navigating multifaceted careers while developing businesses and strategic partnerships that expand reputation and attract new audiences.

At SMAC, Schwartz-Morini and her team have managed clients including Strahan, Deion Sanders, Erin Andrews, Tony Gonzalez and many more.

She is the engineer behind Strahan transitioning his career from a Super Bowl Champion to an Emmy-winner, entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author and one of America’s top media personalities today. Her work with Sanders has shifted the college football landscape. Schwartz-Morini has also launched several consumer product businesses for clients including Strahan, Andrews and Snoop Dogg. 

While earning her bachelor’s degree in marketing, she was a founding member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority and the American Marketing Association. Her contributions to and engagement with SUNY Oswego since have included being an Alumni-In-Residence volunteer, an Alumni Sharing Knowledge mentor, Oswego Alumni Association's Board of Directors member and master of ceremonies for the university's annual Commencement Eve Torchlight Ceremony tradition. 

A self-described “blue-collar kid,” Schwartz-Morini’s humble, hardworking, and earnest background prepared her for the bold, motivated and visionary life of accomplishments she has achieved. 

Schwartz-Morini also executive produces scripted and unscripted film and TV projects ranging from three seasons of “Coach Prime” (Prime Video) to the Emmy-nominated documentary “The Evolution of The Black Quarterback” to “It’s In the Game: Madden NFL” (Prime Video) to “Black Comedy in America” (Vice) to “$100,000 Pyramid” (ABC) to “Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker’s Wild” (TNT) to the feature film “The Underdoggs” (Prime Video). She was also an executive producer on the highly-rated and critically-acclaimed Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards.

Schwartz-Morini started at the NFL, in various roles across television programming, sponsorship, events, marketing and player engagement. After 10 years at the NFL, Schwartz-Morini joined The Firm, creating their strategic marketing and sponsorship division. 

Trailblazing sportscaster

Hall of Fame sportscaster Cohn is a broadcasting trailblazer. She has served as a SportsCenter anchor since joining ESPN in 1992, and is ESPN’s longest-tenured “SportsCenter” anchor. In early 2016, Cohn was recognized for anchoring her 5,000th “SportsCenter,” the most of any anchor in ESPN history. In 2017, she was inducted into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame.

In addition to that role, Cohn is currently an analyst on Sirius XM’s NHL NetworkRadio, and part-time host of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. Across all her endeavors, she has earned awards and praise for her passion for sports, authentic voice and expert analysis. She has earned the Women’s Sports Journalism Award, has been inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and is a member of the Oswego State Athletics Hall of Fame.

In 2008, Cohn authored her autobiography, “Cohn-Head: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking into the Boys’ Club.” The book details her hard-fought rise to the top of the sportscasting world and establishing an ongoing legacy at ESPN.

Cohn began her career in sportscasting in Patchogue, as a news anchor, writer and sports reporter for WALK-AM/FM in 1981. She continued her work with three other New York radio stations until 1987: WCBS NewsRadio 88 (1984-87); WCBS-FM (1984-87); WGBB-AM (1984-85). 

Cohn’s radio experience is highlighted by her becoming the first full-time female sports anchor on a national radio network (ABC) in 1987. In 1985 she began working for WLIG-TV on Long Island as a part-time anchor and reporter. She also worked as anchor, news director and chief correspondent for Long Island News Tonight, a daily television news program, then worked at KIRO-TV in Seattle as a weekend sports anchor and full-time reporter.

Her love of hockey began even before earning her bachelor’s degree in communications from SUNY Oswego. As a senior at Newfield High School, she served as the goalie on the boy’s ice hockey team then goaltended on the Oswego women’s ice hockey team.

About Commencement

More than 1,400 students are eligible to graduate from the ceremonies taking place in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall in Marano Campus Center. Those unable to attend in person can watch a live stream on SUNY Oswego’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/sunyoswegovideo. 

For more information, visit oswego.edu/commencement.