Nearly 600 students to graduate at Catholic colleges in archdiocese

Criterion staff report

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

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

A survivor of the Holocaust, Eva Mozes Kor will share a message of hope and forgiveness when she delivers the commencement address at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College on May 3.

The commencement for more than 160 members of the graduating class will begin at 2 p.m. in the Cecilian Auditorium of the college’s Conservatory of Music.

Kor is the founder and executive director of CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Terre Haute, which provides education about the Holocaust to school children and adults. A survivor of the concentration camp at Auschwitz, she will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the college.

The college will also honor Donald E. Smith with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. He has served as president and as a member of the Alliance for Growth and Progress and the Greater Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce.

This will be the 167th commencement ceremony for the college.

Marian College

More than 380 students are expected to graduate when Marian College holds its 71st annual commencement at 10 a.m. on May 10 in the Alan Whitehill Clowes Amphitheater on campus.

The commencement address will be given by the Mexican ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan. Three people will receive honorary degrees from Marian College.

Sarukhan will receive an honorary Doctor of International Relations degree.

Marian College will also present honorary degrees to William A. Cook and Mary McNulty Young.

Cook is the chief executive officer of Cook Group Inc. in Bloomington. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Business degree.

Young will receive an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree. A retired Indianapolis attorney, she is an alumna and a trustee of Marian College. She is also a member of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis.

Commencement week activities will begin with a visit and a talk by U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) on May 4 on campus.

Saint Meinrad School of Theology

Forty-six students are expected to receive master’s degrees when Saint Meinrad School of Theology holds its commencement at 2 p.m. central time on May 10.

The ceremony will take place in the archabbey’s St. Bede Theater, where graduates will receive degrees that include Master of Divinity, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Arts in Catholic Philosophical Studies, and Master of Arts in Catholic Thought and Life.

The commencement address will be given by Bishop R. Walker Nickless of the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa. †