A time to celebrate! Graduates will receive their degrees in May from three Catholic colleges in central and southern Indiana

Compiled by John Shaughnessy

Graduation day!

It’s always a special time of celebration in the lives of the graduates and the people who have supported them in their journey toward a college degree.

Once again this May, college students—and their families, friends and the educators who helped shape and guide them—will celebrate this defining accomplishment.

Here is a glimpse of the graduation ceremonies that will take place at the three Catholic colleges in the archdiocese.

MARIAN UNIVERSITY

Marian University in Indianapolis will award degrees in three commencement ceremonies on the weekend of May 3-5.

During the commencement weekend, 974 students will earn their degrees.

Students at Marian’s Ancilla College campus in Plymouth, Ind., will receive their undergraduate degrees during a May 3 ceremony that begins at 5 p.m. in the Ancilla Domini Chapel. The commencement address will be delivered by Mark Senter, former mayor of Plymouth. A commencement Mass will be celebrated at 2:30 p.m. on May 3 in the chapel.

Undergraduates at Marian’s Indianapolis campus will receive their degrees during a 1:30 p.m. commencement ceremony on May 4 in the Arena and Convocation Center of Marian’s Indianapolis campus. The commencement speaker will be Claire Fiddian-Green, president of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, a private foundation in Indianapolis. 

The commencement Mass will be at 10 a.m. on May 4 in the Arena and Convocation Center.

Graduate students and medical students will receive their degrees during a 10 a.m. ceremony on May 5 in the Arena and Convocation Center of Marian’s Indianapolis campus. The commencement speaker will be Todd Huston, an Indiana state representative from Fishers, Ind., who is the speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives.

Graduation events can be viewed live-streamed at marian.edu/livestream.

SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS COLLEGE

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in St. Mary-of-the-Woods will celebrate its commencement on May 11 for 321 graduates.

There will be two commencement ceremonies—one for on-campus students receiving their bachelor’s degrees, while the other will be for graduates of Woods Online and master’s degree programs.

Both ceremonies will be in the college’s Jeanne Knoerle Sports and Recreation Center.

The commencement speakers for both ceremonies are graduating students who have been nominated by faculty, staff and fellow students.

The commencement ceremony for on-campus students will be at 10 a.m. The commencement speaker will be Polet Horsley, who has earned bachelor’s degrees in nursing and kinesiology.

The commencement ceremony for graduates of Woods Online and master’s degree programs will be at 3 p.m. The commencement speaker will be Elizabeth Hein, who has earned a master’s degree in business administration.

As part of the commencement day, the college will also have a Mass at 1 p.m. in the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

SAINT MEINRAD SEMINARY AND SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

Fifty-five students will earn master’s degrees when Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad will hold its graduation ceremony on May 11.

The ceremony will be at 11:15 a.m. Central Time in St. Bede Theater on the Saint Meinrad campus.

The commencement speaker is Dr. Kimberly Baker, associate professor of patristics at Saint Meinrad.

A commencement Mass for the graduates and their guests will be at 9 a.m. Central Time on May 11 in the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln. †