Marian University held its 80th spring commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 7 at Herr-Baker Field Baseball Stadium. In total, 234 students graduated including 149 undergraduate, 35 adult, 51 graduate, and five doctoral candidates.

The commencement exercise included recognition of five Professor Emeriti: Dr. Sheryl Ayala; Dr. James Dunphy; Dr. Donna Innes, CSA; Dr. Cyndi Nienhaus, CSA; and Dr. Larry Reynolds. The rank of Professor Emeritus is awarded to Associate or Full Professors who have voluntarily ceded their responsibilities as ranked faculty in good standing after ten or more years of distinguished service to the university.

Commencement speaker, Sr. Simone Campbell, Roman Catholic Sister of Social Service, (SSS) was presented with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. In the closing remarks of her commencement address, Sr. Simone avowed, “So graduates, know you’ve learned a few things, but even more important, know that you have special skills, special gifts of holy curiosity, sacred gossip, and the capacity to celebrate with joy and bring hope to our troubled world. This is what our world needs now, this is how we go on unbroken roads, trusted with the problems of today and tomorrow. We are so grateful to you, to your family and friends, but let us know that we go forward together. And together, we indeed, can respond to the needs of our time and be the people that our nation needs.”

First-generation student, Robynn Leverich ‘22, was the student commencement speaker. The Oxford, Wis. native graduated Summa Cum Laude with double majors in Organizational Communications and Digital Communications Studies. She challenged the class of 2022 graduates to remember, “your learning doesn’t end after you cross this stage. You have so many more opportunities ahead of you, than behind you.”

Held in advance of the commencement exercise were a pinning ceremony for nursing students, pinning ceremony for radiologic technology students, and a teacher commissioning ceremony for education students.

A recording of the commencement ceremony is available online: https://bit.ly/39c92HD.