by Sophie Burt ’26/Saint Michael's College
Vermont Business Magazine Leading with compassion and standing with those on the margins were central messages delivered to members of the Saint Michael’s Class of 2025 during the College’s 118th Commencement on Sunday.
Approximately 370 students obtained bachelor's and master's degrees during the ceremony. The Class of 2025 graduates who received bachelor's degrees represent 24 U.S states territories and 11 countries, while those who received master's degrees represent 12 states and five countries. Sixteen students were also recognized for completing graduate certificate programs.
The Class of 2025 is one of several that applied to and entered college amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, throughout their time at Saint Michael’s, the students overcame that initial challenge to create a tight-knit community full of kindness, compassion, and resilience. Several speakers said that despite the current state of the world – divided politics, wars and other violence, and many people on the margins – the Class of 2025 is ready to face whatever comes its way.
“We graduate into a world full of disruption,” said Margrethe Frøland of Rælingen, Norway, who delivered the undergraduate address. “And yet, in the midst of it, we spent our years in a place that taught us how to hold complexity, think clearly, and act with compassion.”
She added, “We inherit a way of being in the world that means something. We inherit a tradition that is rooted in dignity, community, service, and truth. And maybe that is what the world needs more of right now: not louder voices, but steadier hands. Not more certainty, but deeper curiosity and openness. Not red or blue, but purple. Purple Knights.”
Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J., the founder of the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world, echoed this sentiment in his own Commencement address. The Homeboy Industries founder told several stories about former gang members he had met and gotten to know, urging the graduates to “stand with poor, the powerless, and the voiceless.”
“You will go from here and you’ll get to stand with the demonized so that the demonizing will stop, and with the disposable so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away,” Boyle said. He said this is the only way to dismantle barriers and foster communities of kinship and belonging.”
He later added, “Class of 2025, the measure of your compassion lies not in your service of those on the margins, but only in your willingness to see yourselves in kinship with them. The truth of the matter is this: if we don’t welcome our own wounds, we may well be tempted to despise the wounded.”
An opportunity to continue learning and growing
Speakers also reminded the graduates that even though they’re ending their studies at Saint Michael’s, they should continue to face their next adventures – whether a job, more school, or service – with the same enthusiasm for learning that they fostered at St. Mike’s.
In her Graduate Address, Carol A. Goodrich of Georgia, Vermont, reminded her fellow graduates that they are not defined by the challenges they face, but by how they respond to those challenges. Goodrich, who received a Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling Psychology, encouraged students to always remember the values they learned throughout their time at St. Mike’s – perseverance, the power of collaboration, and the limitless potential of a growth mindset.
“Learning doesn’t end with a diploma,” Goodrich said. “It’s about the willingness to evolve, to adapt, and to keep striving, no matter what challenges the future holds. It’s an opportunity to improve, to stretch our limits, and to become better versions of ourselves.”
She added, “As we embark on the next stage of our journeys, I encourage all of us to continue embracing this mindset — one that fosters curiosity, resilience, and an unshakeable belief that we can always grow.”
Saint Michael’s President Richard Plumb, Ph.D., called the graduates a “remarkable and resilient group” that refused to let adversity define them during their time as students. He said he hoped the graduates would continue considering their values, strengths, responsibilities, and relationships as they seek to live a life of meaning and purpose.
“I am confident that wherever you go, and whatever you choose to do, you will leave a positive mark on your communities and our world,” Plumb said.
Awards and recognitions during the ceremony
Several students received individual awards or recognition during the Commencement ceremony for outstanding academic performance and extracurricular leadership.
Two awards given each year during Commencement recognize students in the graduating class who demonstrate commitment and achievement related to the intellectual, spiritual, moral, and social values of Saint Michael’s College. The recipients were:
- Father Prevel Memorial Award: Awarded to David S. Ciancio of Scituate, Rhode Island.
- Katherine Fairbanks Memorial Award: Awarded to Amy L.D. Hylen of Canton, Massachusetts.
One student was also recognized for maintaining a 4.0 grade point average in all his Saint Michael’s courses: Thomas A. Bemis of New Haven, Vermont.
Two individuals and one group were also awarded honorary degrees during the Commencement ceremony, including Boyle, the featured speaker. The two other honorary degrees were awarded to:
- Phish, the Vermont-born musical group, whose members – Trey Anastasio (guitar, vocals), Jon Fishman (drums, vocals), Mike Gordon (bass, vocals), and Page McConnell (keyboards, vocals) – have become well-known not just for their sound and performance style, but also for their philanthropy. Gordon was present to accept the honor.
- Rita Whalen McCaffrey, the founder of Dismas of Vermont, Inc., which provides transitional housing and community support to the formerly incarcerated. Under her vision and care, what began as one home grew into a network of five Dismas Houses across Vermont – in Burlington, Winooski, Rutland and Hartford.
by Jerry Swope/Saint Michael's College
About Saint Michael’s College
Saint Michael's College, founded on principles of social justice and leading lives of purpose and consequence, is a selective, Catholic college just outside Burlington, Vermont, one of the country's best college towns. Located between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain, our closely connected community guarantees housing all four years and delivers internationally respected liberal arts together with an innovative Purposeful Learning Program, preparing students for fulfilling careers and meaningful lives. Young adults here grow intellectually, socially, and morally, learning to be responsible for themselves, each other, and their world.
5.11.2025. COLCHESTER, VT – Saint Michael’s College www.smcvt.edu
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