– Albertus Magnus College President Dr. Marc M. Camille will confer approximately 380 undergraduate and graduate degrees to the Class of 2024 during the College’s annual Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Honoring a tradi3on that dates back nearly a century to the College’s founding in 1925, the Albertus Commencement ceremony will once again occur in front of the College’s iconic Rosary Hall. “In my seven years serving as Albertus Magnus College President, Commencement is the day on the academic calendar that fills me with the most joy, when our graduates celebrate with their families and friends as they receive their Albertus degree, which they worked so hard to earn,” said Dr. Camille. “Presiding over this event, shaking the hand of each and every graduate, and congratula3ng them as I hand them their diplomas, is a privilege in its highest form. Albertus is New England’s most diverse Catholic college, and thus our Commencement is a wonderful reflec3on of the academic excellence and achievement represen3ng the diversity of experiences and backgrounds that defines our college community and the greater New Haven area that we proudly call home.” Another Albertus Commencement tradi3on is the awarding of Honorary Degrees to dis3nguished individuals whose life and work embody the College’s mission, recognizing them for their inspiring, values-based leadership. The 2024 Albertus Honorary Degree recipients will be: Cindi Bigelow, third genera3on President and CEO of family-owned Bigelow Tea — the US market leader in specialty teas — will receive the degree of Doctor of Humane Leeers honoris causa and deliver the Commencement Address to the Albertus graduates. Before taking the helm in 2005, Cindi spent 20+ years in all areas of the company that her grandmother founded in 1945. Headquartered in Fairfield, Connec3cut, with addi3onal manufacturing plants in Idaho and Kentucky, Bigelow Tea is the number one overall tea brand in the US and maker of “Constant Comment”® tea. The company remains a 100-percent family-owned business and employs 450 people producing over two billion tea bags annually. Bigelow holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College, an MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, and Honorary Doctorates from Johnson & Wales University, the University of New Haven, and Fairfield University, as well as an Honorary Associate Degree from Housatonic Community College. With a major focus on sustainability, Cindi champions these prac3ces throughout the organiza3on with Bigelow becoming a Cer3fied B Corpora3on in 2019; a Green-e® Cer3fied company in 2020, and a “Zero Waste to Landfill” company in 2012 with recer3fica3on in 2022. Bigelow Tea is also proud of its recent cer3fica3on by the Women’s Business Enterprise Na3onal Council (WBENC), which confirms Bigelow Tea is a woman-owned and operated small business in the US.
News Release Sr. Mary Grace Walsh ’80, ASCJ, Ph.D., Albertus Magnus College Alumna with a Bachelor’s Degree in English, an Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the current Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of New York — appointed by His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan — also will receive the Degree of Doctor of Humane Leeers honoris causa. Immediately prior to assuming leadership of the 156 Catholic Schools and more than 50,000 students in the Archdiocese of New York, she served as president of Cor Jesu Academy in Saint Louis, a high school sponsored by her religious congrega3on. Sr. Mary Grace also served the Archdiocese of Harrord, Connec3cut as the Provost of Educa3on, Evangeliza3on and Catechesis and as President of St. Thomas Seminary from 2016 to 2020. Before that, she was Superintendent and Secretary of Catholic Educa3on and Faith Forma3on in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connec3cut. Sr. Mary Grace began her ministry as an elementary and secondary school teacher and administrator — serving in four other archdioceses and dioceses throughout the country. Sr. Mary Grace earned her Master’s in Educa3onal Administra3on from Saint Louis University and her Ph.D. in Educa3onal Administra3on and Supervision/Church Leadership from Fordham University. In addi3on to bestowing honorary degrees, this year’s Albertus Commencement ceremony will mark the fith presenta3on of the St. Dominic Medal, an honor that recognizes an individual or organiza3on whose mission, values, and prac3ces signify the College’s four core Dominican values: Study, Prayer, Community, and Service. For 2024, there are two recipients of this pres3gious honor: