Fairfield University has announced that its 72nd Commencement ceremonies will take place on Saturday, May 21, for graduate students and Sunday, May 22, for undergraduate students.
Fairfield University has announced that its 72nd Commencement ceremonies will take place on Saturday, May 21, for graduate students and Sunday, May 22, for undergraduate students. Both ceremonies will be held on Bellarmine Lawn of the University campus. The total numbers of expected degrees to be awarded are: 1,082 bachelor’s, 499 master’s, 23 sixth-year certificates, and 39 doctorates.
This year's speaker at the undergraduate ceremony will be Robert D. Manfred Jr., attorney and business executive; and current commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB). The graduate ceremony speaker will be Allison Joy Rivera, president of Saint Martin de Porres Academy in New Haven, a tuition-free independent Catholic middle school based on the Jesuit Nativity School model.
Honorary degrees will also be bestowed upon two recipients: Carl F. Bailey Jr. ’75 and Nicole Hockley.
Bailey is the president and founder of Bailey & Beatty Financial Services and founder of Danbury Grassroots Academy, a free, year-round program focusing on education, character, tennis, and health. He has also been leading cleft palate surgical mission trips to Nicaragua and Bolivia over the past 14 years — performing more than 1,200 cleft reconstructive surgeries.
Hockley is the co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, which aims to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Sandy Hook Promise is a national nonprofit organization founded in honor of the 20 first-graders and six educators killed during in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting tragedy — including Hockley’s son, Dylan.
For more information about Fairfield University and the 72nd Commencement ceremonies, visit Fairfield.edu/commencement.
