Cardinal Stritch University will hold two spring 2012 Commencement ceremonies: an undergraduate ceremony and a graduate ceremony. Both ceremonies will be held on Sunday, May 20, in the Ballroom on the 1st floor at Frontier Airlines Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Schedule of commencement activities
Saturday, May 19
- 4 p.m. - Commencement Mass, St. Francis of Assisi Chapel, second floor, Bonaventure Hall.
Graduates, family and friends of graduates, alumni, students, faculty and staff are all welcome to join together for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. (RSVP recommended)5 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. - President’s Champagne Reception, Bonaventure Hall, Main Campus. Please join us for a complimentary Champagne Reception sponsored by Cardinal Stritch University and the Alumni Association. The President and Alumni Association Board members will be present to celebrate your accomplishments and toast your graduation. (RSVP required; no tickets required.)
Sunday, May 20
- 11 a.m. - Graduate (Masters and Doctorate) Commencement Ceremony, Frontier Airlines Center Ballroom, 1st floor. (Tickets are not required.)
- 3 p.m. - Undergraduate (Associates and Bachelors) Commencement Ceremony, Frontier Airlines Center Ballroom, 1st floor. (Tickets are not required)
Commencement Ceremony and Celebration
Speakers and Honorary Degree Recipients
The speaker for the graduate ceremony will be Dr. Molly Shiffler, director of the Urban Literacy Centers in the School of Urban Initiatives. She will also be the recipient of the G.O.L.D. Alumni Award, for her distinguished accomplishments and service to the community.
Rossella Vasta will receive an honorary degree of humane letters at the graduate ceremony for her leadership in promoting Franciscan values and her collaboration with Stritch at Villa Pieve in Italy.
The speaker for the undergraduate ceremony will be Sara Bayer, ’05 ’10, former Stritch basketball star and owner of the Bayer Performance Institute, a personal training and fitness company. Sara organized “Panella’s Pack” in the Walk to Defeat ALS.
Rich Panella, assistant athletic director and former head coach for Stritch women’s basketball for 23 seasons, will receive an honorary degree of humane letters for his work with students and leadership in athletics.
Length of Each Ceremony
Approximately one and a half hours.
Procession
Members of the graduating class will process into the the 1st floor Ballroom at the Frontier Airlines Center and be seated upon reaching the reserved area. They will stand for "America, the Beautiful" and invocation. Men will remove their caps for the song and invocation and put them on immediately after. Men will also remove caps for the benediction at the conclusion of the program and put them on immediately afterward.
Ceremony Procedure
The graduates will be asked to stand and be presented to the president of the university for the conferral of their degrees. Candidates will be ushered to the stage where the president will present the degrees. Graduates walk across the stage, receive their diplomas, and return to their seats in the reserved areas.
General Academic Information
The official graduation date is May 20, 2012. If you do not fulfill degree requirements, you must withdraw in writing from graduation and reapply for a future graduation date.
Diplomas will be mailed about two months after graduation.
For more information, please call (414) 410-4081 or (800) 347-8822, ext. 4081.
Special Needs at the Commencement Ceremony
If you or one or your guests have need of a sign language interpreter, wheelchair space or any other special need, please call Gail Davidson at (414) 410-4009 or (800) 347-8822, ext. 4009.