The 2008 graduating class. Front row center is Auxiliary Bishop John Quinn; to his right is Rector Msgr. Jeffrey Monforton.

The Eighty-fourth Commencement exercises were held on April 25 and 26. The weekend began on Friday evening with the praying of vespers in the main chapel followed by the annual awards and appreciation dinner in the gym. Forty graduates received academic honors and honor cords.

Departing faculty member Fr. Francis Martin was recognized for his work as the Cardinal Adam Maida in Sacred Scripture, as was Registar Mrs. Janet Galea, who is retiring in June after serving the seminary for thirteen years in various capacities.

His Excellency John M. Quinn, auxiliary bishop for the Detroit archdiocese, celebrated the baccalaureate Mass on Saturday, while the rector and president, Very Rev. Msgr. Jeffrey M. Monforton, delivered the homily and presented the degrees and certificates.

This year's class sends forth eighty-nine graduates with ninety-seven degrees and certificates. The School of Theology graduated thirty-four students. Of those, eleven men, representing four dioceses, will be celebrating ordination to the priesthood this spring. The permanent diaconate was represented in our graduating class with six men ordained last fall and six men looking forward to ordination this October. Our theology graduates showcase the seminary's international diversity as they return to the countries of Ireland, Nigeria and China.

The seminary is especially proud of its first four graduates in the Licentiate in Sacred Theology degree program. Established in 2004, the STL is the first such program in the United States with a concentration in the New Evangelization. It is an ecclesiastical degree conferred by the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome (the Angelicum) through our faculty.

In the College of Liberal Arts, thirty basic diploma students earned a certificate of twenty-seven credit hours, many of whom will continue in their studies at the seminary in either the associate or bachelor degree programs.