Newswise — Tom Beaudoin, author and visiting assistant professor of theology at Boston College, will deliver the commencement address at Saint John's at 2 p.m. May 9, in the Saint John's Abbey Church. Also at the commencement ceremony, Saint John's will present its Pax Christi Award to the Rev. John "Jack" Davis, a missionary in Chimbote, Peru. David O'Fallon, president of the McPhail Center in Minneapolis, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, while Beaudoin will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
Michael Marschel, an elementary education major from Sartell, Minn., will be the student commencement speaker, as selected by this year's SJU senior class. The 2004 Saint John's graduating class includes 473 undergraduate men and 41 School of Theology Seminary graduates, and combined with the College of Saint Benedict's 468 graduates, this year's undergraduate graduating class of 941 will be the largest combined class in the schools' history.
Beaudoin graduated from the University of Missouri in 1992 with undergraduate degrees in secondary education and history after which he taught high school for two years. An award winning teacher, including being named one of the best new teachers in the nation by the Sallie Mae Corporation, Beaudoin then changed directions and attended Harvard Divinity School. He graduated from there with a Master of Theological Studies degree in 1996. Beaudoin received his doctorate in religion and education from Boston College in 2001, where he is currently a visiting assistant professor of theology. Beaudoin has published two books, Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X and Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are With What We Buy in addition to many articles, essays and reviews.
The Pax Christi Award is the highest honor awarded by Saint John's Abbey and University, and it honors people who have devoted themselves to God by working, in tradition of Benedictine monasticism, to serve others and to build a heritage of faith in the world. Since 1963, 49 people have been presented the Pax Christi Award. Past recipients include former senator and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy; former Archbishop John Roach of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Archdiocese; Mary Jo Copeland, founder and director of Minneapolis' Sharing and Caring Hands; Amy Grant, a contemporary Christian singer and the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of the Chicago Archdiocese.
Davis, this year's recipient, graduated from Saint John's in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, and he earned a master's degree in divinity from the Saint John's School of Theology in 1969. He was ordained a priest of the Fargo, N.D., diocese the same year.
Davis has been serving in Chimbote since 1974, where many of his parishioners live in poverty. Through his efforts, the people of Chimbote now have access to medical care, an adult literacy program, preschool activities, soup kitchens, self-empowerment programs for women and multiple other changes to the unjust social system.
Davis received an alumni achievement award from SJU in 1999, was recipient of the President's Award from the National Federation of Priest's Councils and received the Frente de Defensa Citizen of the Year award from the University of Los Angeles of Chimbote.
O'Fallon, an experienced educator and leader, currently is the president of the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, the second largest community music school in the nation. O'Fallon has worked at both the national and local levels to develop innovative programs to improve education through involvement in the arts. O'Fallon was the head of the Perpich Center for the Arts in Golden Valley, director of education for the National Endowment for the Arts and a senior staff member at the Kennedy Center. He is a 1965 graduate of Saint John's.
RSS