Countdown to Commencement 2022: Andrew Cegielski

Legal studies and American studies double major Andrew Cegielski is the next member of the Class of 2022 to be featured in the “Countdown to Commencement” series. Cegielski was nominated by Dr. Timothy Madigan, professor and chair of philosophy.

The Buffalo, New York, native is a member of the Pre-Law Association, Fisher Dance team, Student Government Association (SGA), and Mock Trial team. Cegielski is also part of the Honors Program and is a First-Generation Scholar and Empire 8 Scholar Athlete, representing the men’s tennis team. In addition to his dual major, he minors in philosophy and visual and performing arts. He also serves as a student ambassador and residential assistant for the College.

In his nomination, Madigan said that he first met Cegielski through an art class in the fall of 2020 and noticed his enthusiasm and love for learning, which Madigan says has had a major impact on his fellow students and his professors.

“I have benefitted from reading his assignments and from talking with him about the philosophy of art specifically and philosophy in general. I'm delighted that he will be taking a tutorial with me in the spring of 2022 on the philosophy of jurisprudence,” said Madigan. “His commitment to excellence is what I will remember most. I predict that he will be an outstanding lawyer and an attribute to St. John Fisher College as an alumnus.”

Cegielski said that one of his major accomplishments that he is most proud of is having the ability to tackle a double major and finish it within three years. He believes that college is what you make of it and says that the extensive opportunities that Fisher had to offer allowed him to take full advantage of the time he had here.

“Coming into Fisher I was really interested in two paths - a legal studies path or teaching path. I saw that Fisher had great programs for both and I figured that once I was here I could really start to figure out what I'm truly passionate about and build it from there,” said Cegielski. “Once I was here, I ended up doing a dual degree program with both legal studies and American studies with minors in philosophy and arts. I was really able to keep both of my interests tied together and being here at Fisher really allowed me to participate in everything that I was interested in.”

After graduation, Cegielski will be pursuing law school.