Commencement Caps from the back

St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Graduate-Level Virtual Recognition Ceremony

Saturday, May 30, 2020
3 p.m. EDT

Watch Here

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Congratulations Graduates!

St. John's University Logo on gradeslide with image of Johnny Thunderbird.  Text: Johnny Thunderbird.  Degree in Vincentian Mission.  Keep Stormin' #SJUGrad20

GradSlideshow

The GradSlideshow celebrates graduates by providing a personalized slide. While the names of graduates will not be read during the virtual ceremony, the slideshow will recognize and honor each individual graduate. Slides are available for download and are alphabetized by last name.

NOTE: The names listed in the GradSlideshow are not an official listing of degree recipients. Only those students who have completed all degree requirements by May 18, 2020, appear in the GradSlideshow.

St. John's College GradSlideshow

Ceremony Program

Click here (PDF) to view the Ceremony Program. 

Message from the Dean

To St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Master’s and Doctoral Degree Graduates:

Congratulations! I wish we could be together in Carnesecca Arena, where I would have been able to meet each of you in person and shake your hand as you walked across the stage to receive your diploma. I hope that we will get to meet one day, although I doubt we will ever be shaking hands again.

I extend special congratulations to those of you receiving your doctoral degree, the highest degree awarded by this or any other university. You are now among the leaders in your profession, committed to the high ideals of truth and integrity that are at the core of the academy. Had we been able to gather in Carnesecca, you would have been hooded by your mentor as the title of your dissertation or doctoral project was read aloud.

Graduate students are very special individuals. As Henry Rosovsky, the former Dean of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University wrote in his book, The University: An Owner’s Manual, “Graduate students are the faculty’s young disciples who ensure the continuity of learning. They are also children and heirs of the faculty.”

I thank you for choosing St. John’s University as the place to pursue your graduate education. However, whether you know it or not, getting a graduate degree from St. John’s comes with responsibilities that graduating from other universities does not. Please always remember that you earned your degree from a Catholic and Vincentian university. This demands that you use your university education not only to better yourself, but also to make the world a better place for those who are less fortunate, especially in this historic moment.

Good luck. God bless you. And God bless St. John’s University, now your alma mater.

Dean Fagen Headshot

Jeffrey Fagen, Ph.D.
Dean
St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences