SALEM — Deborah Mariano started her Salem State journey as a young dreamer, who now graduates as a mother, a mentor, and a newly appointed middle school principal.
Mariano, the student address speaker at Saturday morning’s McKeown School of Education and College of Arts and Sciences commencement ceremony, will be among the 1,583 students graduating in this year’s commencement exercises on Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17.
Mariano’s connection to Salem State University spans more than a decade. Since 2013, the Lynn native has pursued her academic and professional goals across multiple chapters — earning a bachelor’s in educational studies and Spanish, a master’s in modern foreign languages and education, and now completing her Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) in educational leadership. Each step, she says, helped shape not only the educator she is today, but the advocate and changemaker she’s become.
A proud first-generation college graduate, Mariano credits her strength to the sacrifices made by her grandfather, who immigrated from the Dominican Republic to Lynn in the 1980s in search of a better life. That generational strength has fueled her mission in education — first as an assistant principal at KIPP Academy Lynn Middle School, and now principal after elevating to the role in April.
Mariano’s story is also deeply personal. Alongside her academic achievements, she has raised two young sons and served as a powerful advocate for equity and inclusion in education. Her work centers on second chances and elevating underrepresented voices, reflecting the core mission of Salem State as the Commonwealth’s Civic Engagement University.
As she moves into her next chapter of leadership, Mariano will leave her fellow graduates with departing remarks as the latest step in her journey concludes on Saturday. For more on this year’s commencement exercises at Salem State, please visit the university’s commencement page.
