Misericordia University’s Commencement Celebrated with Two Separate Events

Misericordia University’s Commencement Celebrated with Two Separate Events

Two graduates continuing beyond Misericordia’s Arch and off to UCONN

Misericordia University recognized the achievements of 246 bachelor's degree recipients and 126 master's and Ph.D. recipients during separate undergraduate and graduate commencement ceremonies held at the Anderson Sports and Health Center on the university's scenic campus in Dallas, PA. The graduates represented 12 states: Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Massachusetts, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and New Hampshire.

Dignitaries at the ceremony included President Daniel J. Myers, Ph.D., David Rehm, Ph.D., vice president of academic affairs, and Bishop Joseph C. Bambera, Diocese of Scranton, who offered the Benediction. The National Anthem was sung by graduate Megan Wescott one last time, as she was the University's National Anthem singer during her entire college career. The Ceol Mor, pipe and drum band, performed the academic processional and recessionals.

The commencement ceremonies culminated in two days of events to recognize the achievements of the Class of 2023, including a baccalaureate mass, the "Toast to the Graduates" celebration, and the academic awards ceremony on Friday, May 12th.

Graduates Kyle Bohlin and William Fauntleroy earned degrees in Chemistry during the undergraduate ceremony. Bohlin and Fauntleroy were lab partners and best friends who are natives of the area, as Bohlin is a graduate of the Hanover Area School District and Fauntleroy is a graduate of the Wyoming Area School District. They attended the National American Chemical Society meeting this past March in Indianapolis with Dr. Anna Fedor to present their research work, which was on the extraction and characterization of polyphenols in food. Fauntleroy’s research focused on different berries, and Bohlin focused on red wine flour.

However, their academic journey has continued past the Arch of Misericordia University. The pair will continue their education together at the University of Connecticut. “Coming into college, we ran in two separate circles. I was a theater kid, and Kyle was an athlete. Going through the program together, we have bonded and will be friends for life. One of my deciding factors on where to continue my education was based on where he was going,” said Fauntleroy. Bohlin added, “It started with our SURF (summer undergrad research fellowship) program. All our lab time together allowed us to bond in the program. The community built in the program brings us all together, which is huge when we attend conferences and conduct research together. We are life-long friends.”

They attribute their success at Misericordia to the Frank M. and Dorothea Henry Science Center because they could do the research they did with modern technology and equipment. Bohlin plans to work with forensics or industry to work his way into the FBI, while Fauntleroy plans to work in the food and medical sciences field.

The graduate commencement ceremony was held at 10:00 a.m., and heard remarks from Mary C. Boys, SNJM. “Commencement is a prelude to possibilities you cannot yet imagine. May you journey into it with deepened knowledge, untiring hope, and a thirst for wisdom. May you be hospitable to that which is in bud—and so flourish in a world so much in need of mercy, service, justice and, yes, hospitality,” said Boys. While the undergraduate commencement ceremony was held at 2:00 p.m., and heard remarks from R. Scott Appleby, a Professor of History and the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. Appleby talked about the “big picture” to graduates, “What I can share with you is another kind of secret: Whatever happens, however these crises and their solutions unfold in the coming years, what will be absolutely at a premium, absolutely necessary and “relevant,’ more than ever before, is the supremely human quality of mercy. Mercy is a human quality, yes, but it is also, mysteriously, a divine gift, a kind of mystical superpower available to those whose hearts are open to it.” Both speeches rang true that mercy thrives at Misericordia and in the hearts of all the students, graduates, and alumni.

Bios of Speakers:

Mary C. Boys, SNJM, with a Doctor of Humane letter during the ceremony with her keynote speech to the students. Sr. Mary Boys, a Seattle native, is the Skinner and McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, and its former Academic Vice-President and Dean. Having previously served as a professor at Boston College, she is the author of six books, including “Redeeming our Sacred Story: The Death of Jesus and Relations between Jews and Christians;” she is also editor or co-editor of four other books as well as numerous articles and reviews. Sr. Mary Boys received honorary doctorates from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, The Catholic Theological Union, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and Gratz College. She has been a vowed member of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, a congregation of Roman Catholic women since 1968. She received her master's and doctoral degrees from Columbia University in 1978 in a joint program with Union Theological Seminary. She has done advanced study at the Ecumenical Institute for Theological Research in Jerusalem, Israel. She is the recipient of honorary doctorates from Hebrew College-Jewish Institute of Religion (2004), The Catholic Theological Union (2007), The Jewish Theological Seminary of America (2011), and Gratz College (2012).

R. Scott Appleby, a Professor of History and the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, directed Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. The author or editor of fifteen books, Appleby examines the ways religions and religiously inspired actors shape and are shaped by modern ideas, institutions, practices, and conflicts. His publications include “The Ambivalence of the Sacred Religion, Violence and Reconciliation, The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding,” and the five volumes of the “The Fundamentalism” Project (University of Chicago Press), which he edited with Martin E. Marty.  Appleby has also written extensively about American religious history, Catholicism in the United States, and strategic peacebuilding worldwide.  Among other media appearances, he was called to offer public commentary on 9/11 and on the clergy sexual abuse crisis in Roman Catholicism. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Appleby is the recipient of four honorary degrees.