Bishop Wilton Gregory to Give May 8 Spring Hill College Commencement Address

Apr 12th, 2005

MOBILE, Ala. - One hundred eighty-nine members of the class of 2005 will take the historic walk down the Avenue of the Oaks Sunday, May 8, as part of the College's annual Commencement ceremonies. Along with Spring Hill's undergraduates, 85 graduate and Lifelong Learning students will receive degrees or certificates at the 10 a.m. event.

As part of its Commencement ceremonies, Spring Hill will award honorary Doctor of Law degrees to the Hon. Mike Dow, mayor of Mobile and to Mr. Andrew J. McLaughlin '53, chairman of the Spring Hill College Board of Trustees; and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree to the Most Rev. Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Atlanta. Archbishop Gregory's Commencement address will complete a year in which the College has celebrated its 50th anniversary of integration.

Commencement events begin Friday, May 6, with an all-graduate reception from 5:30-7 p.m. on the Rydex Commons. On Saturday, May 7, nursing graduates will be honored at a pinning ceremony at 1:30 p.m. in St. Joseph Chapel. Graduates and families are also invited to a Baccalaureate mass at 5 p.m. Saturday on the Avenue of Oaks. In case of bad weather, the Commencement ceremony will be held in the Arthur Outlaw Rec. Center on the College campus.

For more information on Spring Hill College's Commencement activities, including directions to campus, contact Greg Walker in the Communications Office at 251-414-3203. A complete schedule of the weekend, including a parking map, can be found at www.shc.edu/news/commencement.

About Our Commencement Speaker, the Most Rev. Wilton Gregory:

Archbishop Wilton Gregory was installed as the sixth Archbishop of Atlanta on January 17, 2005 at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park, Ga. He was born in Chicago and attended St. Carthage Grammar School, Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, Niles College (now St. Joseph's College Seminary) of Loyola University, and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary. Three years after his ordination to the priesthood, he began graduate studies at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute (Sant' Anselmo) in Rome. It was there he earned a doctorate in Sacred Liturgy. Bishop Gregory was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 9, 1973. He was appointed Titular Bishop of Oliva and Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago in 1983, and was ordained on December 13, 1983. He was appointed Bishop of Belleville, Ill. in 1993.

Bishop Gregory served as Vice President of the Bishops' Conference from 1998 to 2001 when he was elected President, serving until November 2004. During his presidency, he saw the conference through the clergy abuse scandals that affected many of the nation's diocese. Under his leadership at their meeting in Dallas in 2004, the bishops approved the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People," as well as the canonical norms needed to implement the "Charter."' Archbishop Gregory has written extensively on Church issues, including pastoral statements on the death penalty and euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide. He has published numerous articles on the subject of liturgy, particularly in the African-American community.

About Spring Hill College

Located in Mobile, Spring Hill College takes rightful pride in being the oldest college in Alabama and the third oldest Jesuit college in the United States. The College welcomes students of all faiths to experience what the Jesuits call "cura personalis," or a concern for the whole person. With its goal to "educate students for the common good of the global human community," Spring Hill fosters in its students an active engagement in learning, a commitment to human rights and to faith-both its personal and social dimensions. The small, tight-knit community of Spring Hill College creates a learning environment that strives to bring out what is unique-and best-in each student. To see more on SHC or to take a virtual tour of campus, visit www.shc.edu.


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