Drew graduated 470 students on Saturday, May 18, 2002, at its 134th Commencement, awarded honorary degrees to four recipients, including graduation speaker Bill Cosby, and selected one of its own professors to receive a $10,000 teaching/mentoring award.

Known primarily for his ability to make people laugh, Cosby is also well known for his commitment to education. Cosby, himself, went back to college, long after he had achieved much of his success and celebrity, to obtain a masters degree and an Ed. D at the University of Massachusetts.

Telling graduates to live with integrity and humility, Cosby used stories about his grandparents and his own experience to make key points. He reminded graduates that their college diploma "Is not just what you did. It is about the people around you who believed in you and helped get you to this point. They believe in you more than you believe in yourself." Cosby told the graduates not to forget the debt they owed their parents and families.

Other honorary degree recipients included: Deborah Poritz, Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and former Attorney General of New Jersey; Raymond Brown, attorney, long-time civil rights advocate, and the first African American to serve on the Board of Managers for Correctional Institutions in New Jersey; and Warren Sinsheimer, attorney, children's advocate, and founder of Legal Services for Children, Inc., a firm serving poor children in New York.

Debra Liebowitz, assistant professor of political science and women's studies, received the President's Award for Distinguished Teaching, which is given each year to a member of the faculty for his or her contributions to teaching and mentoring. The honor carries a $10,000 award.

The 2002 Mentor Recognition Award went to Lynda Campana, an elementary school teacher from Palisades Park, NJ, who was nominated by her daughter Carrie. In her letter of nomination, Carrie said of her teacher and mother, "her classroom exuded an atmosphere of warmth and caring ... I never met a person with more patience and consideration for each child in her classroom."

Two students, selected by their classmates, also addressed the graduating classes: Matthew J. Carillo, of Toms River, NJ, representing the College of Liberal Arts, and Jeffrey Sergius Halvorsen, of Southington, CT, represented graduate and theological school students.