I post this final blog of the academic year to wish our students the best of luck as they finish their final exams, papers, and projects!

And for you members of the Class of 2009 with whom I will be meeting Saturday on the stage, diplomas in hand, please know that we all share in your excitement.

When you arrived in the fall of 2005, you were the largest Saint Vincent Class ever, and now you graduate as the largest ever.

The true measure of greatness for a class, however, is not found in its size but in the breadth of its moral growth and academic accomplishment. On these fronts, the Class of 2009 stands tall. You graduates inaugurated the expansion of service learning programs and gave generously of yourselves to the poor and lonely, at home and abroad.

You also have big plans for when you leave Saint Vincent – our Career Services director, Courtney Baum, provided me a list of where our newly-minted graduates are heading and it is quite impressive: med schools, law schools, doctoral programs and other post-graduate studies, as well as meaningful and challenging employment in the private and public sectors. Wherever you go, and whatever you do, please know how deeply proud we are of you.

I have one last favor to ask. Please keep praying for good weather on Saturday! If we are looking at intermittent rain on Saturday afternoon, we will still stay outdoors because we want everyone to be together. If it looks like Mother Nature is going to make Saturday afternoon very soggy or unbearably windy, then we will have commencement indoors as in the past – with the graduates and some guests in the Carey Center, and the remaining family and friends in the performing arts auditorium and lounge (and if necessary, in the Fred Rogers Center) where they will watch the proceedings on large screens over the College’s cable channel.

As of yesterday we had 326 seniors signed up for the grand procession and requests for over 2, 375 tickets (both records). To put those numbers into perspective, consider these: last year, 249 graduates walked the aisle in the Carey Center, which can seat about 1,500 guests. So if you do the math, you can see why we are planning to be outdoors on our new artificial turf field (that can dry after a morning rain), with enough seats to accommodate everyone.

Our folks in administration will make a decision by 9AM on whether the weather forecasts require us to relocate to indoors. The guidance they have is simple: we can live with a little rain if that means we can have everyone together, but if the radar predicts a soaking or high winds for the early afternoon, then we will go inside and split up. All of this means that graduates and their families should check our web site’s home page on Saturday morning to see whether there is a change of plans, and plan appropriately for the chance of a rain shower.

Rain or shine, inside or out, Saturday and commencement will be glorious at Saint Vincent.

As we say goodbye to our seniors and close the books on this academic year, I want to share some great news with you and all of the members of the Saint Vincent College community about what we can look forward to next year: we have another waiting list for freshmen!

The number of student deposits for the Class of 2013 is now ahead of where we were on this day last year and well above the figure that we expected during these difficult economic times. These numbers tell us that interest in Saint Vincent remains at an all-time high and while the economy has had its share of bad news on the employment, financial market, and GNP fronts, it seems that Saint Vincent will again have an impressive group of freshmen come August. Our decision to keep the tuition increase to its lowest level in over 40 years and to provide more financial aid appears to have been prudent, thank God.

We won’t declare victory until August, when the incoming freshman class shows up on campus – so we’ll be busy all summer to make sure that happens, beginning with our orientation programs in June. But I have to say that our admissions team, headed up by Dave Collins, and our financial aid staff, directed by Kim Woodley, as well as all of the members of our faculty and administration and alumni corps who phoned prospective students or visited with them, deserve our heartfelt gratitude for a job well done.

Nearly 10% of the incoming class consists of minority students. And 23% are from out of state (more than double from where we were three years ago). These are signs of progress and the College’s growing national reputation. The academic profile of the incoming class, too, continues a trend upward.

I am not surprised because I have seen the sustaining grace of the Holy Spirit work wonders here in the lives of students, administrators, and faculty.

In this year in which Saint Vincent College celebrates the bicentennial of the birth of our founder, Abbot Boniface Wimmer, we thank the Lord for the fruits of his faithfulness and the ongoing efforts of the Benedictine monks. I truly am convinced that the fecundity of life at Saint Vincent owes to their many sacrifices and contributions in the 163 years since our founding, and that even better days lie ahead for the College.

I hope to see you Saturday! God bless you, and have a great summer!