After Mass, faculty, graduates, and guests reconvened on the academic quadrangle for the Commencement ceremony itself. Graduate Jordan Raum (’22) presented the Senior Address to those gathered on behalf of his classmates. “Don’t forget that this education is training for happiness,” said Mr. Raum. “The purpose of our time here was to teach us how to find the answer which leads to life in abundance.”
In the ensuing Commencement Address. Carl A. Anderson, former Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, urged the new graduates to supplement their knowledge about Christ with the active imitation of Christ: “In every age the Lord is alive and acting through the lives of his followers and therefore every age is an age of Christian witness. Your age will be so because of your witness.”
In addition to conferring degrees, the College also bestowed honors to key friends of the College and stalwarts of the Church. Mr. Anderson received the Saint Thomas Aquinas Medallion, the College’s highest honor, but he was not alone. The Board of Governors also voted to bestow the Medallion on outgoing president Dr. Michael Fr. McLean. Additionally, the College posthumously inducted longtime benefactors Dorothy and Kenneth Olsen into the Order of St. Albert, in honor of the extraordinary generosity they showed over their many years of friendship with the College.
