Justice Samuel Alito to address record-breaking 2024 class at Franciscan University

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito. / Credit; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

CNA Staff, May 7, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is scheduled to give the commencement address on May 11 to the record-breaking 896 students in the class of 2024 at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

On the occasion, Alito will also receive an honorary doctorate in Christian ethics “for his decades of exemplary public service and tireless efforts to protect and uphold justice and the rule of law,” according to Franciscan’s May 6 press release. 

Alito is known for his majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the 2022 decision that reversed Roe v. Wade and determined that the Constitution could not confer a right to abortion. Alito is also known for backing religious liberty and gun rights. 

Prior to the graduation ceremony, Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, is set to preside at the baccalaureate Mass and give a homily. In recognition of his distinguished service to the Church, Franciscan also announced it will confer upon Caggiano an honorary doctorate in catechetics and evangelization.

For the fourth year in a row, the graduating class at Fransiscan, a Catholic liberal arts university in Steubenville, Ohio, is larger than ever.

“We are deeply grateful and humbled by God’s continued blessings on Franciscan University as we look forward to celebrating the graduation of almost 900 incredible young men and women of faith,” said Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, a 1989 graduate and current president of Franciscan University. 

“The education they have received has prepared them well to tackle the challenges ahead and to be successful in every facet of their personal and professional lives,” he continued. “As mature disciples of Jesus Christ, they will bring the light of joy, hope, and truth to all they encounter.”

Home to the largest undergraduate theology program in the U.S., Franciscan has been endorsed by the Cardinal Newman Society for being faithfully Catholic. 

The university has taken a strong stance against the Biden administration’s use of Title IX for “gender identity” politics and last year invited Jewish students who feared for their safety on other college campuses to transfer to Steubenville.

Franciscan also offers a “Crossroads Pro-Life Scholarship” to undergraduate students who volunteer for pro-life organizations or life-affirming pregnancy centers. Last year’s commencement speaker, Lila Rose, heads the pro-life activist organization LiveAction.

With 2,500 on-campus students and 1,300 online students currently, the college has been growing, adding new academic programs including mechanical engineering, software engineering, and a criminal justice program. The first Franciscan students to major in software engineering will graduate this year. 

Franciscan’s class of 2024 hail from 38 different states and 14 different countries. The top 10 majors are theology, business, psychology, nursing, communication arts, philosophy, education, English, catechetics, and history.