CUA Hosts First Ever “Winter Commencement” Ceremony For Summer and Fall 2024 Graduates
Image Courtesy of The Catholic University of America
By Anthony Curioso
As many CUA students were wrapping up their finals week for the Fall 2024 semester, the University held its first-ever “Winter Commencement” ceremony on December 13, 2024 in the Great Rooms and third-floor atrium in the Pryzbyla Center.
The ceremony honored students who completed their degree requirements in the Summer or Fall 2024 semesters, each receiving their degrees from their respective academic schools. Other students who completed their degree requirements in the Summer or Fall 2024 semesters will walk the stage and receive their diplomas at the main Commencement ceremony on May 17, 2025. They will join their peers completing their degree requirements in the Spring 2025 semester. According to the CUA Commencement website, all students who participated in the Winter Commencement will also be eligible to participate in the traditional Spring Commencement ceremony if they choose to do so.
As with the traditional May commencement ceremony, the celebration started with a procession led by Professor Regina Jefferson of the Columbus School of Law, who has served as Commencement Marshal of the May ceremonies for the last several years. Also, as in previous years, Karna Lozoya, CUA’s Vice President of University Communications, emceed the ceremony.
After the procession and an opening prayer by Father Aquinas Guilbeau, the University Chaplain and Vice President of Ministry and Mission, the graduates and guests listened to a performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Farren Christ, a senior music education major who was among those receiving diplomas that evening.
Following the National Anthem, graduates listened to an address welcoming them into the CUA Alumni Association from the association president, Mary Card Mina, and the main Commencement address from University Provost, Dr. Aaron Dominguez. Provost Dominguez’s address centered on two questions: What is Catholic education? Who is it for? Provost Dominguez emphasized his message to the graduating class by connecting these questions to his field, which is particle physics.
Following Dominguez’s address, the Deans of each academic school presented the degree recipients from their respective schools. Harvey Seegers, Associate Dean of the Busch School of Business, presented the school’s degree recipients in place of Dean Andrew Abela. Additionally, Dr. Bradley Gregory, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, presented the School of Theology and Religious Studies degree recipients for Dean Joseph Capizzi. After each school’s representative read off the list of degrees with which students were graduating, each student recognized at the ceremony had their name and degree type individually read out by Lozoya.
The presentation of degree candidates revealed several notable statistics about those recognized at the ceremony. First, Farren Christ was the only person recognized whose degree program is in the Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art. Second, the students graduating from the Conway School of Nursing at this ceremony consisted exclusively of PhD students; likewise, the ceremony’s contingent of graduates from the National Catholic School of Social Service consisted exclusively of MSW and PhD students. Lastly, the School of Arts and Sciences had a considerably larger number of students recognized at the ceremony than all other academic schools at CUA.
Following the presentation of degree recipients, University President Peter Kilpatrick addressed the new graduates. His address reiterated a message that Father Aquinas first relayed in his homily at the Baccalaureate Mass for the graduates that had occurred earlier that evening: the graduates (and the general population) need to be what God created them to be.
The ceremony ended with Father Aquinas’s closing prayer, followed by Farren Christ leading the attendees in a rendition of CUA’s Alma Mater. After the ceremony adjourned, graduates left the Great Rooms to find a reception in their honor in the third-floor atrium of the Pryzbyla Center. The reception included a backdrop for photos and a selection of beverages and Chinese delicacies catered by Chartwells.
We will have to see whether, and how, CUA will continue to hold Winter Commencement ceremonies or otherwise honor Summer and Fall graduates in future years.
