Jersey City, NJ (May 26, 2005) — Saint Peter’s College awarded degrees to 849 students at the College’s 114 th commencement exercises on May 23 at The New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark , NJ . National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and his brother John Tagliabue ’67, a journalist with The New York Times, delivered the commencement address to the Class of 2005.
“The place has changed, the faces have changed, but two things never change: the excellence of Saint Peter’s College and the vast array of possibilities open to graduates of fine colleges like this one,” said John Tagliabue . “Our families had great hopes for us. They made sure we were educated by Jesuits, for which we are now immensely grateful. You will be, too, if you’re not already!”
Paul Tagliabue discussed his brother’s spirit of exploration and the journey that lies ahead for the Class of 2005. “Saint Peter’s has given you solid footing and a compass. Your family has done its best,” said Paul Tagliabue. “Now it’s up to you. And I do have just one piece of advice: go forward from here with a bold spirit of adventure and exploration. As Yogi Berra says “If you see a fork in the road,take it!” The NFL Commissioner delivered a challenge to the new graduates in his concluding remarks. “Today more than ever, the world needs your gifts, your values, your integrity, your energy and your willingness to explore. The world needs your confidence and conviction when certainty is called for, and it needs your confident skepticism when new insights are called for. So go for it and congratulations!”
Christen and Natalie Furka earned the Award for Academic Excellence for the College of Arts & Sciences/Business Administration. Janet Rivera received the award for Academic Excellence for the School of Professional and Continuing Studies. William J. Murphy delivered the student commencement address. Murphy talked about what makes Saint Peter’s College different and its impact on shaping lives and character. “We are different because we are Jesuit, but I would take it a step farther and say that we are different, even among Jesuit schools, because we are St. Peter’s. No one of us would be so naïve as to believe for a moment that our education absolves us from our responsibility towards our neighbor and our community – on the contrary, our education only serves to articulate that responsibility to such a degree that it is undeniably clear. This morality, this ethic, has been imprinted upon the soul of every student to graduate from St. Peter’s College,” said Murphy.
Saint Peter’s College awarded honorary degrees to the Tagliabue brothers and Cecile Dickey ‘87, the Executive Director and President of both Paterson ‘s nationally recognized Head Start and the New Jersey Head Start programs. She has received Head Start’s highest service award and was inducted into the National Head Start Association Hall of Fame.
“The Tagliabues are proud of their Jersey City roots and Paul and John have put into practice the Jesuit ideal of service to others in their respective careers,” said College President James N. Loughran, S.J. “Cecile Dickey’s dedication and devotion to working on behalf of the most vulnerable in our society has made a positive and lifelong impact on the lives of so many young people.”
A Jersey City native, Paul Tagliabue has served as Commissioner since 1989. He attended Saint Michael’s High School in Union City as a scholastic All America basketball player. He earned his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University as a Dean’s list honor graduate and was a Rhodes Scholar finalist. Tagliabue also served as president of his senior class and captain of the basketball team. He then earned his law degree in 1965 from New York University . He is a former Chair of the Board of Governors of the United Way of America .
John Tagliabue is a correspondent for The New York Times in Paris . He previously served as a correspondent in Rome and bureau chief in Berlin and Warsaw . John Tagliabue has covered several major events during his 25-year career as a journalist, including the rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland, the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II and the fall of communism in many Eastern European countries.
Saint Peter’s College is the Jesuit College of New Jersey. Founded in 1872, Saint Peter’s has an enrollment of approximately 3,000 students in undergraduate and graduate programs. The main campus is located in Jersey City. The College has a branch campus for adults in Englewood Cliffs and also offers courses at various corporate sites at the Jersey City waterfront, in Newark and in South Amboy.