Commencement
Albertus Magnus College awarded 690 undergraduate and graduate degrees at its 86th commencement exercises on a chilly and cloudy Sunday afternoon, May 17, in front of venerable Rosary Hall.
The College conferred honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees upon Sister Anne Kilbride, O.P., Dr. Margaret Badum Melady and The Honorable Thomas P. Melady.
Teacher, administrator, counselor and religious leader, Sister Anne, a native of New Haven, has led a life of service to her Church and her community. Deeply involved in congregational ministry and leadership, she most recently served as prioress of the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs (now known as the Dominican Sisters of Peace), the founding congregation of Albertus Magnus College. She has been a member of numerous boards and congregational committees.
Dr. Margaret Melady has had distinguished careers in university teaching and administration, corporate management and global communications. She served for six years as president of The American University of Rome. She is the author of four books on social and political commentary, international culture and communications, including "The Rhetoric of Pope John Paul II: The Pastoral Visit as a New Vocabulary of the Sacred."
Educator, diplomat and author, The Honorable Thomas P. Melady served as U.S. Ambassador to Burundi, Uganda and the Holy See, and was senior adviser to the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. He was president of Sacred Heart University for 10 years; currently he is professor and senior diplomat in residence at the Institute of World Politics, a graduate school of national security and international affairs in Washington, D.C.
Bishop Theodore L. Brooks Sr., pastor of the Beulah Heights Pentecostal Church in New Haven-- a recipient of an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Albertus in 2003-delivered the charge to the graduates and the benediction. He recalled that President Barack Obama has said that "all Americans should strive to put themselves in the position of continual learning. No matter how old you are, you are never too old to learn." This applies, Bishop Brooks pointed out, not only to the young, but to the middle-aged and the elderly. He urged the graduates to always seek new challenges and never become satisfied with the status quo.
"Some people want to forget where they came from, which I believe is a great mistake," he said. "I have found out that it is very important for everyone of us to reflect back to where wecame from, and what we went through, so that we might stay on the pathway to accomplishing those goals and objectives that are before us.
"...We must not put off for tomorrow those things that we can either do today or at least start the process today...Procrastination is a thief of not only time, but also of our dreams and goals...."
Albertus Magnus College, a liberal arts college founded in 1925, has an enrollment of 2,100 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs.
