NEWPORT — With voices lifted in song, the verses of “Salve Regina,” the University hymn, resounded with school pride, kicking off the 67th commencement of Salve Regina University on Sunday, May 21, with a prayerful and enthusiastic tone.
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In her remarks, Salve Regina President Sister Jane Gerety, R.S.M., Ph.D., called for the graduates to take a moment to offer thanks to parents and faculty who have helped to make their education a success.
“Their encouragement, their prodding, their love, and, yes, their money. Before we do anything else, let us thank your parents, relatives, and friends… [and] give thanks to your faculty. They are often the quiet heroes, not only in what they have helped you learn, but in the daily things they have done for you, the way they have nurtured that collegiate growth spurt in your minds and hearts.”
Sister Gerety added that the heart of the home is the people who live and work there, and for the Class of 2017, Salve Regina University has been their home away from home.
“Before you leave this home, I urge you to raise a glass and to offer a prayer of gratitude to all who have made Salve a home for you,” she said. “On the field and on the ice, in the lab, on the stage, in the studio, in the classroom and in the soup kitchen, you used your gifts to enrich our home here at Salve and on Aquidneck Island. We learned compassion, courage and candor from you. You challenged us to think differently about the environment, inclusiveness, about dignity, about new forms of beauty, about new meanings of Mercy. This is a happy home you’ve helped us create.”
Lynn Morrissey of Bellingham Mass., waited eagerly for the commencement to begin, when her daughter would process in with the other graduates on to the McAuley Hall lawn, which is set along the Cliff Walk in Newport. Her daughter Jacquelynn is her third child to graduate from Salve Regina University.
“This school is so friendly,” she said. “They are so focused on the students and their accomplishments. All of my children have been prepared well to go on to graduate school. The campus, the faculty — you can’t beat it.”
Prior to the conferring of diplomas to the graduates, two individuals were recognized with honorary degrees on behalf of the school.
George Wein, the beloved great-grandfather of the music festival movement, was honored with an honorary degree from Salve Regina. For more than six decades, the visionary and pioneer has nurtured the careers of great musicians and fostered understanding of jazz. Wein was invited to create the first outdoor jazz festival at Newport in 1954, the Newport Jazz Festival, which has been legendary in music history.
“George Wein, you crafted an essential piece of Newport’s identity,” said Sister Gerety. “You hold a special place in Newport’s heart and Newport’s history. It is a privilege for Salve Regina University to bestow upon you the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.”
Jonathan Michael Batiste, associate artistic director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, was also honored by Salve Regina University with the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters for sharing his musical gifts and profound understanding of the place of jazz in the United States. With a unique charisma and strong religious faith, Batiste began drumming in his uncle’s band by age 8 and studying the piano by 11. At the Juilliard School of Music in New York City he earned a master’s degree in piano by the time he was 23, and formed a group which grew into the jazz quintet, Stay Human, which is now the celebrated house band of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” playing to millions nightly.
In his address to the graduates, Batiste reminded them that even as they leave the campus of Salve Regina, the world still has so much left to teach them.
“The world, and the things ahead will be the greatest teacher you ever have,” he said. “And from being around these lovely people, and understanding what you’ve been taught, the values that have been instilled in you in your four years here, I think you are well prepared to step out there and take the stage. A lot of people will tell you what they think success is, but you have to define that for yourself. Once you define yourself, you can then begin your true vocation with God-given purpose.”
Co-Valedictorian Kristen Stack of Berlin, Connecticut, said that she feels ready to leave Salve and is confident in her ability to face anything that life throws at her.
“Graduation is merely one of the fastballs that life sends our way,” she said. “Sure, we see it coming but we never truly brace ourselves for all of the uncertainty that comes with it. Yet I encourage each and every one us to embrace this uncertainty. Even though it is scary, it allows us the freedom to make life into anything that we want it to be. Let us make this life meaningful, purposeful and beautiful.”
In her address, Co-Valedictorian Marissa Ballard of East Providence, stated that the mercy mission of the university is more than just the creed.
“Living the mercy mission requires an understanding that the world is not a just, merciful, or harmonious place, something that has become more apparent in the last few years,” explained Ballard. “So even though it may be difficult, I want to inspire you to take the mercy mission, with all its complications and everything that it asks of us, with you into whatever profession or industry you enter. All of us have an important role to play in making our society more just, more compassionate and more understanding. It is my hope that you will not take your role lightly, and realize your potential to infinitely better the lives of others.”
