More than 1,000 students to graduate from area Catholic colleges

Criterion staff report

Students, families, friends and educators will join in the celebration as the three Catholic colleges in the archdiocese hold their graduation ceremonies in May.

Here is a glimpse of each ceremony.

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in St. Mary-of-the-Woods will celebrate its commencement on May 5 when 106 graduates of the Class of 2018 will receive their associate’s, bachelor’s or master’s degrees.

The Baccalaureate Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. in the college’s Church of the Immaculate Conception. The commencement ceremony will begin at 1:15 p.m. in the college’s Jeanne Knoerle Sports & Recreation Center.

The commencement speaker will be Annette “Mickey” Lentz, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. A graduate of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Lentz has served in many leadership roles during her 57 years of dedication to the archdiocese. Lentz will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the commencement ceremony.

Marian University

Marian University in Indianapolis will award 933 degrees at its commencement ceremony on May 6.

A record 781 undergraduate and graduate students will receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees during the ceremony at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.

During the same ceremony, which begins at 1 p.m., 152 future doctors will graduate from the Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard will deliver the address at Marian’s 81st commencement, which is being held at the Fairgrounds due to construction on campus.

Ballard and his wife, Winnie, will receive honorary Doctor of Public Service degrees during the ceremony.

Four other individuals will also receive honorary degrees: Marilyn Strasburger Brouillette will be presented with an honorary Doctor of Philanthropy degree; Phil and Brigitt Caito will receive honorary Doctor of Business degrees; and Maxine McIntosh Ferguson will receive an honorary Doctor of Arts degree.

Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology

Forty-eight students are expected to graduate when Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad holds its commencement on May 12.

The ceremony will be at 2 p.m. Central Time in St. Bede Theater on the Saint Meinrad campus. The commencement address will be delivered by Bishop Christopher J. Coyne, the former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis who is now the spiritual leader of the Diocese of Burlington, Vt.

Mass for the graduates and their guests will be at 10:30 a.m. Central Time in the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln. †