Seton Hall graduates can ‘do something about a world brimming with peril’
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Seton Hall University celebrated its 166th baccalaureate commencement on Tuesday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The University graduated 1,334 students with baccalaureate degrees, 774 graduating with honors. In addition, 990 graduate students will receive master’s and doctorate degrees, making the total number of graduates this year 2,324 students.
Receiving an honorary degree was Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, who also gave an invocation. Also receiving an honorary degree from the University was the Secretary-General of the United Nations, His Excellency António Guterres, who delivered the commencement address.
Cardinal Tobin said the presence of Guterres is a visible reminder of the shared responsibility for using knowledge to work for peace, sustainable development, and greater respect for human beings as well as this world, which is our common home.
Having set the stage with inspiration and personal experience, Guterres detailed the peril he saw awaiting the graduates as they ventured forth, imploring them to use their skills and training as servant leaders to impact the world.
“As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I feel it is my duty to report that you are entering a world brimming with peril,” he said. “We face conflicts and division on a scale not seen in decades — from Yemen to Syria, from Ethiopia to the Sahel and beyond. And, of course, the war in Ukraine — a violation of that country’s territorial integrity and the Charter of the United Nations — is causing immense human suffering, destruction, and death.”
Guterres described the war in Ukraine as exacerbating a food, energy, and finance crisis around the world. He also spoke of the climate crisis he said threatens to erase entire communities and countries.
“Poverty, exclusion, and inequality are worsening,” he continued. “The gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ in every country is widening. Hunger and famine stalk millions. Human rights are under assault. Women are still largely shut out of the halls of power and boardrooms of business. Knowledge, science, and expertise are being devalued by conspiracy theories and outright lies. People increasingly mistrust their institutions, their governments — even each other. The misuse of social media is undermining the social fabric. Hate and extremist thought are being amplified across societies — seen tragically, once again, by the outrageous racist massacre in Buffalo ten days ago. Global solidarity is missing in action — from the scandalously unequal rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to the absence of support to help developing countries recover. And geopolitical fault lines are spreading fast.”
Guterres said he didn’t raise these challenges to darken the graduates’ special day. Rather, he said, he raised them because it now falls on them to use what they have learned to do something about it.
“Live up to your motto, and in the face of peril, go forward in building a better future,” he said.
Among those graduating this year are 61 students who represent the first cohort of Seton Hall’s Buccino Leadership Institute. The University-wide program sprung from the success of the Gerald P. Buccino ’63 Center for Leadership Development, a part of the Stillman School of Business, which was ranked the #1 leadership development certificate program in the nation five years in a row.
“As I like to say, a Seton Hall education is not for the faint of heart. We are a world-class university that requires world-class effort,” said University President Joseph E. Nyre, Ph.D. to the soon-to-be graduates and their guests. “We engage our students as whole, unique individuals. The expectations and demands we place on them enable them to create the life of their dreams. By that measure, I can say with certainty: Class of 2022 — you are ready for what comes next. Class of 2022: Lean into life — both its opportunities and its struggles. Be deliberate in your actions. Hold fast to your dreams. Be swift to offer friendship and just as swift to defend your principles. Cherish the less fortunate. Champion those who cannot speak for themselves. Count yourselves among the givers, not the takers. The fearless, not the frightened. In other words, be all we expect you to be: Great Minds with the conviction and commitment to serve the human family and restore our fractured world. I am confident you will do just that. And I rejoice in the achievements that will undoubtedly be yours.”
Cardinal Tobin’s invocation follows:
“Loving God,
Creator of Heaven, Earth and all therein contained.
Open our minds and touch our hearts, So that we can be part of creation, your gift.
Be present to those in need in these difficult times, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.
We give you thanks for the success of those about to graduate from a great University. Bless them as they begin a new stage of their lives’ journey. Reward the faculty, administration and benefactors of Seton Hall. And, as we honor achievement and bid goodbye, we pray:
Make us courageous in embracing the changes required to seek the common good.
Now more than ever, may we all feel interconnected and interdependent.
Enable us to succeed in listening and responding to cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.
May our current suffering become the birth-pangs of a more congenial and sustainable world.
Make us your instruments in setting captives free, proclaiming liberty to captives, sight to the blind, offering radical healing to carry your beloved daughters and sons from trauma to triumph.
Even in this world’s darkest places, may we Pirates proclaim a Year of Favor from You.
Amen.”
The Valedictory Address was delivered by Timothy Georgetti, who double majored in Diplomacy and International Relations and Philosophy. Georgetti recollected the pandemic and suggested that the Class of 2022 should remember the ways we turned the greatest adversity of our time into a catalyst for growth.
In addition to an address from the valedictorian, the University traditionally hears from the president of the Student Government Association as well. Julia Nicholls, a Diplomacy & International Relations and Economics graduate, twice served as president of the SGA at Seton Hall. In her speech she addressed the unique set of obstacles that confronted this class of graduates, looked to the future and embraced it.
“We went through a global pandemic, civil unrest, and a million more challenges, yet somehow, someway we made it through to the other side,” she said. “And if we can graduate college having experienced all of that, we will tackle the next challenge.”
Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., celebrated its 166th baccalaureate commencement on May 24, 2022 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (Photo courtesy of Seton Hall University)
