The University of Notre Dame celebrated its on Sunday (May 17) at Notre Dame Stadium. An audience of more than 20,000 family members, friends, faculty and graduates were in attendance as 2,120 degrees were conferred on undergraduate students.
Over the course of Commencement Weekend, the University conferred a total of 3,335 degrees.
University President , and , the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost, introduced the speakers and welcomed the guests. The ceremony opened with the singing of “America the Beautiful,” led by Rev. Kevin Grove, C.S.C., an associate professor of theology.
Salutatorian Allison Elshoff, a business analytics major from Valencia, California, offered an invocation. On behalf of the graduating class, she expressed gratitude for Christ’s love, for family and friends, for teachers and mentors, and for the University of Notre Dame. Elshoff also prayed for God’s guidance and asked that the graduates “leave these halls eager to enter the world as instruments of your peace.”
In his valedictory address, Martin Soros, from Bethesda, Maryland, considered the journey that each graduate took to Notre Dame, which he noted was not so different from that of its founder, Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., who arrived on the frozen grounds in late November 1842 with a vision for what the University could become.
“We all came to create something, just like Father Sorin,” he said. “What did he see in that frozen landscape? He saw you and he saw me. He saw researchers fighting to end disease. He saw students tutoring at a local middle school. He saw members of a choir sharing their gifts, and he saw neighbors cracking jokes in a dorm hallway. Over these last four years, at every turn, we cultivated warmth for others.”
Soros, a civil engineering major who is perhaps best known as co-creator of , said that warmth is something the world desperately needs.
“Like Father Sorin, we stand before a world that has grown cold,” Soros said. “And though the people we encounter may know nothing about Notre Dame, we can leave its mark on their hearts with the warmth we have cultivated here. This may seem daunting. But we’ve been doing it for four years, and we are just getting started.”
Honorary degrees were conferred upon Marguerite Barankitse, a humanitarian leader, teacher and founder of the education, development and relief organization Maison Shalom (House of Peace); Mary Boyce, provost emerita and professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University; Eamon Duffy, emeritus professor of the history of Christianity at the University of Cambridge and former president and fellow of Magdalene College at Cambridge; Christopher J. Murphy III, executive chairman of 1st Source Corporation; J. Christopher Reyes, co-founder and chair of Reyes Holdings LLC; and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., the sixth archbishop of Newark.
Father Dowd then introduced the principal speaker, Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E., who also received an honorary degree. Sister Petrini is president of the Pontifical Commission and Governorate of Vatican City State, serving at the invitation of both the late Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV, and becoming the first woman to hold these positions.
“Sister Petrini speaks to us today at a historic time in the Church, as we embrace the first American-born pope, Pope Leo. … It is clear that Pope Leo is a pope for all, as he has centered his papacy on unity, charity and ‘crossing borders in order to announce the Gospel,’” Father Dowd said. “In many ways, our speaker today has embodied these ideals throughout her ministry, as an Italian-born member of an American-based religious community who is tireless in her service to the Church and to all of God’s people around the world.”
In her address, Sister Petrini built on the recent Jubilee year theme chosen by Pope Francis, “Pilgrims of Hope,” inviting the graduates to become “leaders of hope.”
“You will be people of hope if, centered in Christ, the Principle of Communion, you embark on your new beginning, driven by a sincere desire to build bridges: bridges between humanity and God; bridges between those you meet; bridges between those who are the main players and those who are left behind; bridges between cultures, languages and personal histories; and bridges between individuals and generations,” she said.
Sister Petrini also called upon the graduates to “dream, make choices and set priorities” and to “continue to search for more.”
“I pray that you will march on and contribute to the common good, that you will move forward strong of heart and remain true to your faith, with kindness and courage,” she said. “May you take responsibility for others with loyalty and integrity, and be our hope.”
The University presented the — the most prestigious award given exclusively to American Catholics, and Notre Dame’s highest honor — to Timothy P. Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics.
Shriver, who began his career as an educator, described his decision to lead Special Olympics, which was founded by his mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
Special Olympics, he said, is “a global witness to the truth that every human being is a sacred creation, with inherent dignity, made in the image and likeness of God — and should be treated that way.
“The precious occasions when we gather and see this truth together are moments of lasting grace.”
Shriver, who also co-founded UNITE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people bridge political divides, said that the need to make dignity the standard for how we treat each other is both an ancient call — and “the most urgent call of our times.”
“In answering the call, you here at Notre Dame have an extraordinary advantage,” Shriver said. “You will walk out of here with the advantage of having been schooled here — on this campus, in this special place — and your university was blessed for this calling even before Father Sorin baked the first brick to build Notre Dame.
“So as you leave the home field of the Fighting Irish to launch the next chapter of your lives, what would you fight for? What were you born to fight for? I pray you will fight to honor the inherent dignity in every human being — and renew the face of the earth.”
Following the conferral of all baccalaureate degrees, Father Dowd offered a charge to the graduates.
“Never forget that your charge as a Notre Dame graduate is to be a force for good in the world. And as you go out into the world, to build your careers and communities and deepen your awareness of God’s mysterious presence and action in your lives, I hope you will rely on the moral, intellectual and ethical foundation you’ve cultivated here,” he said. “Class of 2026, as you go forth from here, be assured of our gratitude for you — and be assured of our prayers for you. I hope you will come back to Notre Dame often, because it is and always will be your home.”
The ceremony closed with a benediction by Cardinal Tobin, followed by a special performance by Irish folk band The High Kings.
“Send [these graduates] forth as bearers of light where there is darkness, hope where there is despair, and unity where there is division,” Cardinal Tobin said. “May their lives reflect the values they have learned here — a commitment to truth, a heart for service and a faith that seeks understanding.”
Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, c.gates@nd.edu, 574-993-9220