July 09, 2008
Rome, Italy -
Ceremony in Italy will confer graduate degrees from St.
John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and The Peter J. Tobin
College of Business
St. John’s University will host its 12th annual Commencement
Ceremony at its campus in Rome, Italy on Sunday, July 20, 2008.
Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., President of St. John’s
University, will confer Master of Arts in Government and Politics,
Master of Arts in Liberal Studies and Master of Business
Administration degrees upon 40 students from Italy, the United
States and six countries from around the world.
The ceremonies will also highlight the first graduating class of
the Master’s concentration in the Global Development and Social
Justice two-year track. The unique on-line distance learning
program, run by Rev. Jean-Pierre Ruiz, S.T.D., Director of the
Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies at St. John’s University, will
graduate 12 students from the United States, Canada, Haiti, India,
Indonesia, the Philippines and Rwanda.
The 12th annual Commencement Exercises will honor friends and
supporters of the University which include:
- His Eminence Leonardi Cardinal Sandri, Prefect of the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches, will receive the honorary
degree of Doctor of Laws.
- Professor Emmanuele Francesco Maria Emanuele, President of
Fondazione Roma, will receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine
Arts.
- Ms. Lesley-Anne Knight, Secretary General of Caritas
Internationalis, will receive the honorary degree of Doctor of
Humane Letters.
- Very Reverend Michael J. Carroll, C.M., Provincial of the
Eastern Province of the Congregation of the Mission, will be
presented with the International Medal.
- Reverend Monsignor Albin J. Grous, S.T.D., Pastor of St. Andrew
the Apostle Church, Drexel Hill, PA, will be presented with the
President’s Medal.
Also attending the commencement will be several members of the
St. John’s University Rome Campus Advisory Board and community.
“St. John’s has had an outstanding relationship with the Italian
people since opening our campus in Rome in 1995. We have continued
our mission of offering American-style business and government
classes to International students and now, because of the demand
and opportunity for global expansion, we look forward to moving
into a more spacious facility in Rome this August to accommodate a
larger student population,” said Rev. Harrington, C.M. “We are
proud to continue into our second decade of service to our
students, who have had the distinct advantage of receiving an
education that is truly global.”
Photos will be available after the event. For more information,
please contact Dominic Scianna, Director of Media Relations, at
(718) 990-6185 or at sciannad@stjohns.edu.
Italian media may contact the St. John’s Rome Campus at (06) 393
842.