By Meghan Michael / Associate News EditorThe brisk wind didn't extinguish the high spirits of the Class of 2008 during the 132nd Commencement Exercises. Family, friends, faculty, and administrators filled Alumni Stadium early Monday morning to celebrate the achievements of the graduating students.
The University conferred baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees to over 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students. These newly-proclaimed alumni hail from 59 countries, adding to the diversity of the 150,000 living graduates.
The Rev. James Erps, S.J., director of Campus Ministry, began the exercises by giving the invocation, reminding students that although commencement is a time to celebrate the promise of the future, events such as the recent natural disaster in China must also be remembered. Students must attempt to reconcile the good in life with the bad using the opportunities they have been given. "Much is expected of them because they have much to give," Erps said of the students.
