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Chicago Archbishop Blase Joseph Cupich, leader of the country’s third-largest Catholic diocese and a champion for the economically and socially disenfranchised, will address the graduates at Boston College’s 139th annual Commencement Exercises on May 18.
University President William P. Leahy, SJ, will present Archbishop Cupich with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the ceremony, which will take place at 10 a.m. in Alumni Stadium, rain or shine. [Commencement information is available at www.bc.edu/commencement.]
In addition, the University will present honorary degrees to: Sister Marie Chin, a mainstay of the Sisters of Mercy in Jamaica; Lynch School of Education alumnus Michael Motyl ’01, president of the Guadalupe Regional Middle School in Texas; executive, writer and motivational speaker Steve Pemberton ’89; and Lee Woodruff, journalist and best-selling author.
Some 4,000 Boston College students will receive their undergraduate and graduate degrees at separate ceremonies held around campus after the main Commencement event.
Appointed by Pope Francis last fall, Chicago Archbishop Blase Joseph Cupich formally began his duties in November as the ninth archbishop of Chicago, home to some 2.2 million Catholics, nearly half of who are Hispanic. His ministry has been focused on reaching out to those on the margins: immigrants, Native Americans and the poor. A strong supporter of immigration reform, he has spoken about the importance of offering the estimated 8 million undocumented workers – whose “toil, taxes and purchasing power” benefit the US – the “protection of the law.”
Known for his quick wit and pragmatic style, Archbishop Cupich has cited his family as one of his most important influences: His father worked three jobs to provide for his wife and nine children; his grandparents were Croatian immigrants who raised money to build his childhood church.
Interviewed by the National Catholic Reporter, Archbishop Cupich said that “everything that I have learned in terms of working with people and taking on any responsibility are things that I learned from my parents: to work hard, to pray, to respect people, to realize that I don’t have all the answers, that God will take care of the situation if we just trust.”
Archbishop Cupich formerly served as the bishop of Spokane, Wash., and Rapid City, SD, and as the chair for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People. He is current chair of the board of the National Catholic Educational Association, a member of the USCCB Subcommittee for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe and chancellor of the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Illinois.
An internationally known speaker and spiritual director, Sister Marie Chin, RSM, of Jamaica is dedicated to the mission of the Sisters of the Mercy and practices it in her native country, one of the poorest in the world.
In 1961, she entered the Sisters of Mercy, an international community of Roman Catholic women who dedicate their lives to God through vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and service. The organization is responsible for approximately 5,000 members in 11 countries and advocates for social justice and systemic change on behalf of the poor and marginalized in society.
After teaching at the secondary level for more than a decade at Alpha Academy in Kingston, Jamaica, she served in a number of key positions with Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, including director of formation, coordinator/administrator of the Jamaica Region, and vice president and president of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Her current position is incorporation/vocation minister and local administrator.
Sister Marie is vicar for religious for the Archdiocese of Kingston and has directed retreats, workshops and programs worldwide on such topics as spirituality, religious life and multiculturalism.
She will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at Commencement.
In the seven years he has served as president of the Guadalupe Regional Middle School, Michael Motyl ’01 has overseen the development of an academically challenging school where the gospel values of love, justice, self-discipline and respect for others are taught and lived.
Located in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley – where more than one-third of the residents live below the poverty level and nearly 14 percent of high school freshmen must repeat ninth grade – the school strives to make Catholic education available to the city’s neediest families, providing free tuition to boys and girls in grades six through eight.
Guadalupe Regional keeps class sizes small and offers a school day that’s 90 minutes longer than area public schools and a school year that extends into summer. This year, more than 80 percent of the school’s students have signed up for a new Summer Scholars Academy.
Motyl was assigned as a teacher to the Rio Grande Valley while at the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a master’s of education with middle school concentration and a master’s of educational administration. In 2008, Motyl was hired as principal at Guadalupe Regional, which was founded in 2002 by the Marist Brothers of the Schools, the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament.
Motyl will receive an honorary Doctor of Science in Education degree.
Steve Pemberton ’89 overcame extreme adversity in childhood to become a pioneering corporate executive, visionary youth advocate, best-selling author, husband, and father of three – a very different life than the one envisioned for him by a caretaker who predicted he “didn’t have a chance in the world.”
Separated from his siblings as a young child and placed in a brutal foster home environment, where he suffered physical abuse, Pemberton nonetheless was able to gain admission to Boston College, where he joined a student group called the Talented Tenth that spearheaded various campus initiatives and community outreach projects. Graduating with a degree in political science, Pemberton would later return to his alma mater as senior assistant director of admissions.
In 2005, he made his mark in the corporate world as the first diversity and inclusion officer at Monster.com, and then as divisional vice president and chief diversity officer at Walgreens. Fortune magazine named him one of the top 20 chief diversity officers in corporate America and in 2008 Savoy listed him as one of the top 100 most influential African-Americans in corporate America.
Pemberton wrote the critically acclaimed memoir A Chance in the World – also the name of the non-profit he cofounded – and has become a motivational speaker. Pemberton will receive an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree.
Lee Woodruff, a contributing reporter for “CBS This Morning,” has forged a successful career as a journalist and author writing about family and parenting – subjects close to her heart as the mother of four children. But a frightening crisis brought a new perspective and purpose, both of which continue to guide her life and work.
Woodruff’s world changed in 2006, when her husband, ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff, suffered a traumatic brain injury from a roadside bomb in Iraq. His ordeal and long recovery became the basis for In an Instant, the best-selling book co-authored by the Woodruffs about the family’s struggle to cope and rebuild from the horrific event.
Through the book, as well as TV and speaking appearances, the couple helped to raise awareness of the effects of traumatic brain injury. They founded the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which has raised more than $20 million and invested in grassroots organizations and programs around the country that are helping veterans successfully reintegrate into their communities and receive critical long-term care.
Lee Woodruff has written and spoken about how her family crisis forced her to reassess her priorities, and to abandon the unrealistic ideal of the “perfect” working mother often promulgated by the media.
She will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, the same honor given her husband at BC’s 2012 Commencement Exercises. The Woodruffs’ daughter Cathryn is a member of the Class of 2015.