“The annual Honors Convocation is an opportunity for the instution to recognizethose students who have demonstrated academic excellence through an impassioned commitment to learning,” Louise Carroll Keeley, Ph.D., recently retired provost and academic vice president, said of the April 15 event. “This ceremony allows the faculty to celebrate the most meritorious students in each of their primary programs of study. To receive a departmental award or one of the institution’s special awards is a signifi-cant achievement for any undergraduate student, and we are proud to honor them for their accomplishments.”
Each year, the institution invites a distinguished alumnus to address the honorees on the value of a liberal arts education. This year’s keynote speaker was Suzanne Besnia, J.D. ’79, a civically engaged attorney, who has worked since 1984 for Riezman Berger, a legal firm in St. Louis. While an undergra-duate at Assumption, Besnia focused on politics early, but immediately found an interest in the arts, studying musicology, studio art, drama, and art history. Being liberally educated is something she said “absolutely, without a doubt, has literally shaped my life in every aspect.”
Besnia shared that a liberal arts education expands one’s wealth of knowledge and opens our eyes to the world; gives students exposure to non-technical subjects that demand a different level of thinking; provides the tools needed to look inward and to know ourselves; and develops a self-knowledge that helps lead us to moral happiness through giving back to society.
“Self-knowledge is essential for us to be thoughtful and deliberate people in the decisions we make to bring about our own moral happiness. Moral happiness considers not only our own happiness but the happiness of society, and we give back to society,” she said. “Those with self-knowledge ethically and morally deliberate the decisions to work for the good of society. These are the people we want as neighbors, coworkers, leaders, and friends. They are not threatened by new ideas and are capable of evaluating and understanding a different point of view. … The ability to engage in civil discourse on subjects essential to our society is developed here at Assumption, and I hope you will all continue to hone that skill.”
Seventy-five students were honored with academic awards, including the Augustine Scholarship, which is awarded to rising junior and senior students (PICTURED ABOVE), who– through their academic achievement, leadership, community service, and good character – best embody the Assumption mission. Students nominated for this prestigious academic distinction have demonstrated initiative and leadership in academic and co-curricular endeavors, and are of demonstrably good character. Grade point average alone is not evidence of initiative and leadership, even in the academic arena.
