SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--One of the most influential Catholic authors and speakers, who has provided commentary for media outlets from NPR to the The New York Times to “The Colbert Report,” James Martin, S.J., will be the commencement speaker at Santa Clara University’s 164th undergraduate commencement ceremony June 13.
Undergraduate commencement will take place at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 13, at Santa Clara University’s Buck Shaw Stadium.
A separate commencement for students receiving advanced degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences’ Graduate Program in Pastoral Ministries; the School of Engineering; the Leavey School of Business, and the School of Education and Counseling Psychology will be held Friday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Leavey Events Center.
Speaker Fr. Martin was perhaps best known as the “Chaplain of the Colbert Nation,” a recurring guest on the Comedy Central show “The Colbert Report,” which ended its run last year. Martin is editor at large of America Magazine, the national Catholic weekly with 45,000 subscribers. His articles and commentary have also run in publications including Commonweal, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Time magazine, as well as on CNN, NPR, and other broadcast media.
“For many, Fr. Martin is the face of the Church in mainstream media. He shares the essence of how Catholic values play out across the globe,” said Santa Clara University President Michael Engh, S.J. “As a best-selling author, he has an uncanny ability to make matters of faith clearer, accessible, and relevant in today’s world. I look forward to welcoming Fr. Martin to campus as our commencement speaker this year.”
Fr. Martin received his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and his master’s degree in divinity and in theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, now part of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Santa Clara University will confer an honorary degree on Fr. Martin, as well as on Michel ’60 and Mary Orradre, friends and benefactors of Santa Clara University’s academic endeavors. Also receiving an honorary degree will be internationally recognized sculptor and SCU supporter Fletcher Benton.
“I’m deeply honored to be invited to join the graduates this year at Santa Clara,” said Martin. “It’s a superb school where the Jesuit and Catholic mission of educating and informing others to use their gifts for the betterment of humanity, the poor, and the earth is lived out to the fullest. I look forward to meeting all the great 'men and women for others' who are among this year’s graduating class.”
Other Santa Clara University commencement 2015 activities:
Santa Clara University School of Law, May 16
The chief justice of California, Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye of the California Supreme Court, will be the featured speaker for Santa Clara University School of Law’s 2015 commencement. Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye is the 28th chief justice of the State of California, the first Asian-Filipina American, and the second woman to serve as the state’s chief justice. The ceremony will take place May 16 at 9:30 a.m. in the University’s Mission Gardens.
Jesuit School of Theology, May 23
Sister Bernice Gotelli, PBVM, the sole chaplain of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland who has spent the last 26 years providing hands-on pastoral care for critically ill children and their families, will be the commencement speaker at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University (JST) May 23 at 3 p.m. The ceremony will take place at Pacific School of Religion’s Chapel of the Great Commission in Berkeley, Calif.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 9,000 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering; master’s degrees in business, education, counseling psychology, pastoral ministry, and theology; and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.
