(Submitted photo: Cazenovia College Valedictorian -- Anneliese Rae Aliasso)
Anneliese R. (Anni) Aliasso, the daughter of Joseph and Stacey Aliasso and granddaughter of Sandra and Brian Clark, of Batavia, is the Valedictorian of Cazenovia College Class of 2015, graduating with a bachelor’s of arts in International Studies, with minors in Philosophy and Pre-Law.
Anni is a 2012 graduate of Notre Dame High School in Batavia and received the Presidential, Emerson and John S. and Enid Morris Endowed Scholarship to attend Cazenovia College. On May 16, 2015, Anneliese graduated Summa Cum Laude with All College Honors, achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.98. She was inducted into Alpha Lamda Delta, the first-year honor society in the Spring of 2013 as well as Alpha Chi, the All-College Honors Society and Sigma Ito Rho, an International Studies Honor Society in the Spring of 2014.
In the Spring of 2013, Anneliese volunteered at the Mohawk Valley Refugee Resource Center, assisting incoming refugees in gaining citizenship in the Utica area. In the Spring of 2014, Anneliese interned with the Syracuse Office of Senator Charles E. Schumer, assisting with secretarial needs and set-up of press conferences in Central New York. In the Fall of 2014, Anneliese traveled abroad to Canterbury, England, to study for a semester, where she traveled to 12 countries across Europe. In the Spring of 2015, Anneliese completed a second internship with InterFaith Works, another refugee resettlement agency, based out of Syracuse. She assisted the office with incoming refugee families, specifically those with legal or governmental problems. Additionally, in the Spring of 2015, Anneliese completed her Senior Capstone titled, U.S. Relations with Vietnam, a Possible Normalization Pathway for Cuba?, assessing the possibility of using the pathway used to normalize relations with Vietnam as an option in the current debate over lifting the embargo against Cuba.
Throughout her three years at Cazenovia College, Anneliese was a member of Women’s Soccer, Women’s Swimming and Diving, which won the NEAC Conference Championships in February of 2015. She also participated in Campus Keys, volunteered at Freshmen Orientation and was named a Scholar Athlete and on the dean’s list all six semesters.
Upon graduation, Anneliese received numerous awards, including the Stephanie Leeds All College Honors Program Award, Alpha Lambda Delta Excellence Award and the Excellence in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences Award. This Summer, Anneliese will complete an internship in the Law Office Shapiro, Dicaro and Barak in Rochester. Anni will continue her studies In the Fall of 2015 at Albany College of Law earning a full-tuition scholarship while she pursues a joint degree in Law and a master's in Public Administration (JD/MPA.)
Anneliese hopes to continue to serve the refugee and immigrant populations through clinical work throughout law school and to continue to advocate for this population in the future.
