Nearly 900 students to graduate from three 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

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in St. Mary-of-the-Woods will celebrate its 175th commencement on May 3 when the 75 graduates of its Class of 2014 will be honored.

Graduates will receive their degrees during the ceremony that begins at 2 p.m. in the Cecilian Auditorium of the college’s Conservatory of Music.

The commencement speaker will be Sharon Vergez Vercellotti, president of V-LABS, Inc., a consulting, manufacturing and analytical organization. Vercellotti has been awarded three Small Business Innovation Research Grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.

The college’s Distinguished Alumnae Award will be presented to Cynthia Hux Martin, a 1978 graduate. The chief executive officer of many family-owned businesses, she has served as a board member of the college, the Union Hospital Foundation and 100+ Women Who Care.

Marian University

When Marian University in Indianapolis celebrates its 77th commencement at 10 a.m. on May 10, the Franciscan college will once again confer degrees on a record number of graduates—732.

The commencement speaker will be Mary Beth Bonaventura, a 1976 Marian graduate who is director of the Indiana Department of Child Services. She will also receive an honorary Doctor of Arts and Humane Letters degree during the ceremony, which will be held at St. Vincent Field on the Marian campus.

Vincent Caponi will receive an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree from the university. Caponi is the executive chairman of the board of St. Vincent Health and senior vice president of Ascension Health, the nation’s largest not-for-profit and Catholic health care system.

Anthony Kriech will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree. A 1975 graduate of Marian, Kriech serves as the vice president of research and development for Heritage Research Group.

Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology

Sixty-nine students are expected to receive master’s degrees when Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Saint Meinrad holds its commencement on May 10.

The ceremony will be at 2 p.m. Central Time in St. Bede Theater on the Saint Meinrad campus. Bishop Michael J. Hoeppner of the Diocese of Crookston in Minnesota will deliver the graduation address.

Mass for the graduates and their guests begins at 10:30 a.m. Central Time on May 10 in the Archabbey Church. †