{"id":5394,"date":"2016-09-30T15:42:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T19:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/?p=5394"},"modified":"2019-10-30T16:48:54","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T20:48:54","slug":"marc-morial-president-and-ceo-of-the-national-urban-league-serves-as-the-keynote-speaker-at-2016-michaelmas-convocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/30\/marc-morial-president-and-ceo-of-the-national-urban-league-serves-as-the-keynote-speaker-at-2016-michaelmas-convocation\/","title":{"rendered":"Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, Serves as the Keynote Speaker at 2016 Michaelmas Convocation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mnop-with-the-president-7\"<\/a>Family and friends cheered for their peers\u2019 accomplishments at the Michaelmas Convocation on Wednesday, September 28 at St. Aedan\u2019s: The Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University Church. The annual Michaelmas Convocation is an event that celebrates impressive student accomplishments. These students have been working hard since they started at Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s to maintain high GPAs and strive for the Magis.<\/em> The Michaelmas Convocation ceremony follows the medieval tradition of convening the faculty and students to start the term and is celebrated in the honor of the feast of the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. At this year\u2019s event, Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League provided the keynote address. Students received achievement awards in all academic areas, including the sciences, arts and business.<\/p>\n

At the annual Michaelmas Convocation, 10 senior students are inducted into the oldest and most distinguished honors society at Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s, the Most Noble Order of the Peacock (MNOP), for attaining the highest scholastic average in all courses throughout their first three years at the University. The students inducted into this year\u2019s MNOP society include Nicholas P. Riepe, Eliran Epshtein, Brenda L. Chavez, Joseph R. Delorenzo, Adam W. Parkinson, Lisa E. Thottumari, Nicholas J. Chciuk, Shaikat Haque, Ashwin Ambi and Kimberley Mena. Many other students were awarded scholarships, and students in honors societies were recognized.<\/p>\n

Students and attendees also had the opportunity to hear an inspirational keynote from the convocation speaker, Morial. Morial currently serves as the president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League, the nation\u2019s largest civil rights organization. He is an entrepreneur, lawyer, professor, legislator and former mayor of New Orleans. In a distinguished professional career, Morial has performed all of these roles with excellence, and is one of the most accomplished servant-leaders in the nation.<\/p>\n

As president of the National Urban League since 2003, he has been the primary catalyst for an era of change. His energetic and skilled leadership has expanded the League\u2019s work around an empowerment agenda, which is redefining civil rights in the twenty-first century with a renewed emphasis on closing the economic gaps between whites and blacks as well as rich and poor Americans.<\/p>\n

\"Catholic<\/a>During his address, Morial emphasized the importance of positive role models. Morial said he could remember his first role model, Catholic Bishop Harold Robert Perry, S.V.D, who was the first African American Catholic bishop. Perry was an advocate for social justice and even met with John F. Kennedy to discuss desegregation. In addition to Bishop Perry, Morial named four other influential Catholic leaders, Pope Francis, Mother Teresa, Saint Katharine Drexel, S.B.S., and Henriette Delille. Pope Francis is a modern day Christian role model. Mother Teresa devoted her life to the poor. He used one of her quotes to enhance his argument, \u201cThe biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted.\u201d Native Americans and African Americans inspired Drexel\u2019s mission, and she founded the first Catholic, black university, Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. Perhaps lesser known, Delille was a Creole nun who founded the order of the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans, which was composed of free women of color.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese influential role models show that the essence of faith and spirituality is what we owe to others,\u201d Morial said. \u201cThese are the lives we should be inspired by. Live a life of academic achievement, but also live a life of service to others,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

Eugene J. Cornacchia, Ph.D., president of Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University, congratulated the award recipient winners.<\/p>\n

In line with the University\u2019s theme of gratitude, he urged the award recipients to thank and applaud their friends and their family, because it is their support that make accomplishments possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichaelmas calls you to appreciate what you have,\u201d Dr. Cornacchia said.<\/p>\n

After the ceremony in St. Aedan\u2019s: The Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University Church, award recipients and their families gathered in The Duncan Family Sky Room for a celebratory sit-down dinner.<\/p>\n

View more photos\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Family and friends cheered for their peers\u2019 accomplishments at the Michaelmas Convocation on Wednesday, September 28 at St. Aedan\u2019s: The Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University Church. The annual Michaelmas Convocation is an event that celebrates impressive student accomplishments. These students have been working hard since they started at Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s to maintain high GPAs and strive for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":5398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,5,2,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-current-students","category-faculty-staff","category-future-students","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMarc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, Serves as the Keynote Speaker at 2016 Michaelmas Convocation - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/30\/marc-morial-president-and-ceo-of-the-national-urban-league-serves-as-the-keynote-speaker-at-2016-michaelmas-convocation\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"agervasio\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/30\/marc-morial-president-and-ceo-of-the-national-urban-league-serves-as-the-keynote-speaker-at-2016-michaelmas-convocation\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/30\/marc-morial-president-and-ceo-of-the-national-urban-league-serves-as-the-keynote-speaker-at-2016-michaelmas-convocation\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"agervasio\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/00459dc0108ef013970b4d1001110de5\"},\"headline\":\"Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, Serves as the Keynote Speaker at 2016 Michaelmas Convocation\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-30T19:42:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-30T20:48:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/30\/marc-morial-president-and-ceo-of-the-national-urban-league-serves-as-the-keynote-speaker-at-2016-michaelmas-convocation\/\"},\"wordCount\":694,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/30\/marc-morial-president-and-ceo-of-the-national-urban-league-serves-as-the-keynote-speaker-at-2016-michaelmas-convocation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2016\/09\/MNOP-with-The-President-7.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni\",\"Current Students\",\"Faculty Staff\",\"Future Students\",\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/30\/marc-morial-president-and-ceo-of-the-national-urban-league-serves-as-the-keynote-speaker-at-2016-michaelmas-convocation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/30\/marc-morial-president-and-ceo-of-the-national-urban-league-serves-as-the-keynote-speaker-at-2016-michaelmas-convocation\/\",\"name\":\"Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, Serves as the Keynote Speaker at 2016 Michaelmas Convocation - 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