Contact: Deanna Howes Spiro, Vice President of Communications, AJCU
(202) 862-9893, dhowes@ajcunet.edu
It’s that time of year again! The following is a list of speakers and dates for the 2022 commencement ceremonies at the nation’s Jesuit colleges and universities. Please note that this list will continue to be updated; stay tuned for more speaker announcements over the next few weeks.
Pictured above: Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III (Fordham University), Abby Wambach (Loyola Marymount University), Dwyane Wade (Marquette University), Br. Guy Consolmagno, S.J. (Saint Joseph’s University), U.S. Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS; Seattle University). All photos courtesy of Jesuit colleges and universities, and/or Wiki Commons.
Boston College: May 23 (Undergraduate, Graduate), May 27 (Law)
Undergraduate, Graduate: Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Prime Minister of Greece), Law: Kimberly S. Budd (Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court)
Canisius University: May 18 (Graduate), May 21 (Undergraduate)
Student speakers (TBD)
College of the Holy Cross: May 27
Abraham Verghese (best-selling author and infectious disease physician)
Creighton University: May 12 (College of Nursing, School of Medicine, School of Pharmacy and Health Professions), May 13 (Graduate School, Heider College of Business Graduate Programs, School of Law, School of Dentistry), May 14 (Undergraduate)
Natalie Diaz (Pulitzer Prize-winning poet)
Fairfield University: May 21 (Graduate), May 22 (Undergraduate)
Undergraduate: Robert D. Manfred, Jr. (attorney, business executive, and current Commissioner of Major League Baseball); Graduate: Allison Rivera (president of Saint Martin de Porres Academy in New Haven, CT)
Fordham University: May 21
Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III (social activist and pastor of Harlem’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church)
Georgetown University: May 19 (McCourt School of Public Policy), May 20 (Graduate School, School of Continuing Studies, McDonough School of Business), May 21 (Georgetown College, School of Nursing & Health Studies, Walsh School of Foreign Service), May 22 (School of Medicine, Law Center)
- McCourt School of Public Policy: Cecilia Muñoz (Senior Advisor at New America)
- Graduate School: Robert Bullard (Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy at Texas Southern University)
- School of Continuing Studies: Shaun Harper (Provost Professor of Education and Business and Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership of the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business; Executive Director of the USC Race and Equity Center)
- McDonough School of Business: Mohammed Dewji ’98 (President, MeTL Group; Founder and Trustee of the Mo Dewji Foundation; Board Member of the McDonough School of Business)
- Georgetown College: Timothy Shriver (Chairman of the Special Olympics)
- School of Nursing & Health Studies: Sr. Norma Pimentel (Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley)
- Walsh School of Foreign Service: Antony Blinken (U.S. Secretary of State)
- School of Medicine: Dr. Eric Goosby (Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine; Faculty Director of the Center for Global Health Delivery, Diplomacy and Economics at the Institute for Global Health Sciences)
- Law Center: Sherrilyn Ifill (President and Director-Counsel Emeritus of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund)
Gonzaga University: May 7 (Law, Graduate), May 8 (Undergraduate)
Law: Gloria Nevarez (attorney and West Coast Conference commissioner), Graduate: Terry Payne (businessman and philanthropist), Undergraduate: Angela Jones, J.D. ’16 (educator)
John Carroll University: May 21 (Graduate), May 22 (Undergraduate)
Graduate: Marla E. Pérez-Davis, Ph.D. (director of NASA Glenn Research Center), Undergraduate: Jackie Acho, Ph.D. (president of the Acho Group and author of Currency of Empathy)
Le Moyne College: May 20 (Graduate), May 22 (Undergraduate)
Graduate: Dr. Kimberly Townsend (president and CEO of Loretto, a continuing care system located in New York), Undergraduate: Jonathan Capehart (Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Washington Post columnist), U.S. Representative John Katko (R-NY)
Loyola Marymount University: May 7 (Undergraduate), May 8 (Graduate), May 15 (Law)
Undergraduate: Abby Wambach (Olympian, activist and author), Graduate: Francisco C. Rodriguez, Ph.D. (Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District), Law: Hon. André Birotte Jr. (Justice, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California)
Loyola University Chicago: May 10 (School of Education and School of Environmental Sustainability, The Graduate School and Institute of Pastoral Studies), May 11 (Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, School of Social Work and Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health), May 12 (Quinlan School of Business, School of Communication & School of Continuing and Professional Studies), May 13 (College of Arts and Sciences), May 14 (School of Law, Stritch School of Medicine)
On August 13, Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago will hold its commencement ceremony.
- School of Education and School of Environmental Sustainability: Michelle Rabkin, M.Ed. (Vice President of Education, Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum)
- The Graduate School and Institute of Pastoral Studies: Bettina Love, Ph.D. (Georgia Athletic Association Endowed Professor in Education, University of Georgia)
- Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing: Jacquelyn Taylor, Ph.D., FAHA, FAAN (Helen F. Petit Endowed Professor of Nursing; Founder and Executive Director, Center for Research on People of Color, Columbia University School of Nursing)
- School of Social Work and Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health: Spero Manson, Ph.D. (Distinguished Professor of Public Health and Psychiatry; Director, Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health; Colorado School of Public Health, Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado)
- Quinlan School of Business (Undergraduate & Graduate): Paul S. Fisher, J.D. (Chair, Advisory Board of the Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility, Quinlan School of Business)
- School of Communication & School of Continuing and Professional Studies: Jean Hodges ’84 (Senior Director of News Culture and Communication, Gannett)
- College of Arts and Sciences: Hugh Christopher Evans (CEO and Co-Founder, Global Citizen)
- School of Law: Nathaniel Howse, Jr., J.D. (BA ’73, J.D. ’76) (Illinois Appellate Court Justice)
- Stritch School of Medicine: Claudia Fegan, M.D., FACP, CHCQM (Chief Medical Officer, Cook County Health)
Loyola University Maryland: May 14
Anisya Fritz, Ph.D. ’85 (entrepreneur, business strategist, and humanitarian)
Loyola University New Orleans: May 13 (Law), May 14 (Undergraduate, Graduate)
Law: Honorable Calvin Johnson (retired chief judge of Orleans Parish District Court), Undergraduate, Graduate: Sean Payton (head coach of the New Orleans Saints)
Marquette University: May 21 (Law), May 22 (Undergraduate, Graduate)
Law: Hon. Elizabeth B. Prelogar (Solicitor General of the United States), Undergraduate: Dwyane Wade (three-time NBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, former Marquette men’s basketball player), Graduate: Thelma A. Sias (former vice president for local affairs at We Energies)
Regis University: April 30 (Graduate, Doctoral), May 1 (Undergraduate)
Jessica Herrera-Flanigan (vice president for public policy and philanthropy for the Americas at Twitter; Regis Trustee)
Rockhurst University: May 14
Undergraduate Student Speaker: Emily Virginia Dickson (candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Research College of Nursing), Graduate Student Speaker: Joseph Xavier Straws (candidate for the degree of Doctor of Physical Therapy)
Saint Joseph’s University: May 21 (Undergraduate, Graduate)
Undergraduate: Br. Guy Consolmagno, S.J. (director of the Vatican Observatory and president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation), Graduate: A. Bruce Crawley ’67 (president and principal owner of Millennium 3 Management, Inc.)
Saint Louis University: May 21
Andrés Gallegos, J.D. (Law ’93; Chair of the National Council on Disability)
Saint Peter’s University: May 26
Rev. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., D. Min. (pastor emeritus at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, NJ and former secretary of State of New Jersey)
Santa Clara University: June 11 (Undergraduate, Graduate)
No commencement speaker for 2022
Seattle University: May 14 (Law), June 12 (Undergraduate, Graduate)
Undergraduate: U.S. Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS), Graduate: Rev. Edward Reese, S.J. (President, St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco), Rev. Thomas Reese, S.J. (renowned journalist and scholar)
Spring Hill College: May 7
Merceria Ludgood (District One Mobile County Commissioner)
The University of Scranton: May 21 (Undergraduate, Graduate)
Rev. Herbert B. Keller, S.J. (Vice President for Mission and Ministry at The University of Scranton)
University of Detroit Mercy: May 13 (School of Dentistry, School of Law), May 14 (Graduate, Undergraduate)
Speakers TBD
University of San Francisco: May 19 (School of Education), May 20 (School of Management, School of Law, School of Nursing and Health Professions), May 21 (College of Arts and Sciences)
- School of Education: Russell M. Jeung, Ph.D. (Professor, San Francisco State University, Asian American Studies and Co-Founder, Stop AAPI Hate)
- School of Management (Undergraduate): Irma E. Velasquez (Author and Educator)
- School of Management (Professional Bachelors & Graduate): Lip-Bu Tan (Executive Chairman, Cadence Design Systems and Chairman, Walden International)
- School of Law: Hon. Lucy Haeran Koh (U.S. District Court, Northern District of California)
- School of Nursing and Health Professions: Hon. Patricia Montes Barron (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Military Community and Family Policy, Department of Defense)
- College of Arts and Sciences (Undergraduate Humanities & Science Students): Arlene Blum, Ph.D. (Executive Director, Green Society Policy Institute)
- College of Arts and Sciences (Undergraduate Arts & Social Science Students): Jennifer Siebel Newsom (First Partner of California and Founder, The Representation Project)
- College of Arts and Sciences (Graduate Students): William McKibben (Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies, Middlebury College)
Xavier University: May 14 (Undergraduate, Graduate)
Undergraduate: Mark A. Godsey (director of the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati’s Institute for Justice), Graduate: Rev. Thomas Firestone (lead pastor of the Catholic Community of Flint, MI)