Another record-breaking class crossed the stage in Franciscan University’s Finnegan Fieldhouse in May. For the fourth consecutive year, Franciscan graduated its largest class in history, with 899 students in the Class of 2024.
One graduate was Katie-Marie Zickert ’24, recipient of the St. Gabriel Award in Communication Arts and the St. Anthony of Padua Alpha Phi Delta Award for the class’s highest QPA. Beyond the classroom, she said participating in music ministry helped her personal vocation formation.
“I was received into a vibrant community of students, staff, and friars who encouraged my gifts as a musician and worship leader. Their mentorship, friendship, and prayer provided me a refuge to take risks, make mistakes, and discover more deeply the person God created me to be,” she said.
Sean Docken, Class of 2024
Zickert plans to earn her master’s in theology and Christian ministry while serving as an Office of Evangelization graduate assistant at Franciscan; she also will work as a marketing coordinator for the GIVEN Institute, a Catholic apostolate.
“I still have so much to learn, but my time at Franciscan and in music ministry has empowered me to entrust my yes to Jesus and the ways he wants to work through me as his disciple,” she said.
For Spanish and philosophy major Joseph Grzywa ’24, his time in the Priestly Discernment Program has inspired him to serve with the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Missionary Volunteers in Mexico after graduation. He said the program “provided me with the resources and community I needed to discern effectively.”
Stefan Fiandeiro ’24 likewise discovered his calling at Franciscan. The finance major is currently applying to a state police academy.
“I’ve realized at Franciscan the nature of the gifts God has given me and the way God speaks to us through our desires. That is how I settled on the state police. It’s the intersection of what I desire, a place where my talents can be thoroughly used and where there is a deep need for good Catholic men,” he said.
As a transfer student, Fiandeiro said coming to Franciscan was the right decision, and no matter where he goes next, he “will always be proud to be a Franciscan grad and remember fondly this time of formation and intense community.”
“Go forward with confidence and joy because the Lord will always be at your side.”
Another graduate was Oscar Martinez Vega ’24, recipient of the Dr. James Salter Award in Computer Science, who will work as a software engineer in Texas.
“My favorite highlight of my time here at Franciscan was definitely my semester abroad in Austria,” he said. “Not only did I take amazing classes with great professors, but I also had the opportunity to travel to prayerful and impactful pilgrimage sites like Rome and Lourdes and serve on two mission trips.”
The Class of 2024 also included 245 online students; nearly 100 of them made the journey to campus to receive their degrees, including Heather Jaracz MA ’24 from Massachusetts.
Jaracz had studied civil engineering in college. After converting to the Catholic faith, she thought maybe one day she’d study theology, but motherhood and homeschooling took precedence. Then, two years ago, she was listening to Father Mike Schmitz’s popular podcast The Bible in a Year.
“He was saying to go out and just do something, even something where you’re going to fail,” Jaracz said. “I had always wanted to get a master’s degree, and I thought, ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’”
The mother of nine says the online MA in Catholic Studies Program helped her draw closer to the Lord and realize the “gift of the Catholic liberal arts. Philosophy, arts, literature, history—it really speaks to our whole person.”
For next steps, she is earning her doctor of education degree online with the University of St. Thomas, with aspirations to later work in Catholic education.
“As a mother, I’ve always been working to build up the Kingdom,” she said. “I would want my career to do the same.”
The graduation celebrations kicked off on May 10 with the Baccalaureate Mass. Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, presided. A member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis and chair of the subcommittee on the Catechism, Bishop Caggiano received an honorary doctorate in catechetics and evangelization for his leadership within his diocese and beyond.
“There is much that makes Franciscan University unique—its authenticity of faith and teaching, its extraordinary faculty and staff, the friars who are in many ways the heart of the mission. But I do want to have one last word about you,” Bishop Caggiano addressed the graduates. “To see in your faces your joy, your dedication, your zeal, your love for Christ, your love for the Church—it is a great gift.”
In his homily, Bishop Caggiano encouraged the graduates to not be afraid to go forth and witness to the Lord.
“You, my young friends, are graduating from a university that has given you a graced confidence and every tool you need to climb whatever mountain the Lord asks of you and to traverse any valley,” he said. “Go forward with confidence and joy because the Lord will always be at your side.”
“The victory is ours in Jesus Christ, and that is what the world does not know yet,” he added. “All of us are ambassadors of hope and truth in a broken and confused world. All of us need to speak clearly, speak authentically, and speak without words about the kingship of Jesus Christ and how he is alive in his Church.”
During commencement on May 11, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. received an honorary doctorate in Christian ethics “for his decades of exemplary public service and tireless efforts to protect and uphold justice and the rule of law.” While reading the honorary degree citation, Father Dave Pivonka, TOR ’89, president of Franciscan University, noted Justice Alito’s writing of the majority opinion for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which declared there is no constitutional right to an abortion. The graduates and guests in Finnegan Fieldhouse erupted into applause and gave a standing ovation.
President Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR ’89, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Stephen Hildebrand
Justice Alito delivered an address at both the morning and afternoon ceremonies where he told the graduates to “go out boldly and engage the world.”
He offered advice on how to do so, inspired by the United States Constitution. This advice included recognizing the fundamental principles of life and guarding against unwise change.
“There will be troubling times, times of temptation,” he said. “If we have fixed and clear principles, principles that are written in bold letters in our hearts, we may be able to find our way through, but if we don’t, we could easily go astray.”
He highlighted the need to respect tradition while also engaging in civil discourse.
For the Constitution’s framers, “their ideal was a person of real character who was strong, prudent, temperate, and fair—a person who was willing to sacrifice for the good of others,” he said. “They were confident that ordinary people are capable of responsible self-government if they did not try to stop the people from making changes that don’t undermine what really matters. In the same way, your challenge during troubled times will be to distinguish between dedication to principles that never change and mere nostalgia.”
Justice Alito also encouraged the graduates to draw strength from authentic relationships.
“Decades from now, you may possess more than you do today. You may have more money, more power, more accomplishments, more status. You may also have more responsibilities, worries, regrets, and bruises,” he said. “But underneath all of these things that the years will hang on you, there will be the same person who is here today, and it will be good for you to stay connected to the people who know the real you.”
In his closing remarks, Father Dave honored the graduates for their faith and courage, especially since many of them started their college careers in 2020 when COVID-19 policies were causing much uncertainty. He noted a large percentage didn’t have an in-person high school graduation, yet they came to Franciscan’s campus during the Step in Faith initiative, which offered 100 percent tuition coverage for incoming students in fall 2020.
Michaela Miller receives her diploma from Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR ’89.
“This is your first step in faith, but you will have a thousand more,” he said. “God has a plan for you. He will satisfy that plan. He will give you everything you need to be faithful to that. There is no other way to live than by continually walking in faith.”
View the ceremonies: academics.franciscan.edu/commencement-live.
