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The Catholic University of America Graduates Encouraged to Seek Happiness, Truth Through Self and Faith in Commencement Talks

Washington, D. C., May 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In remarks delivered to the 1,357 graduates of The Catholic University of America during a May 13, 2023, commencement ceremony held on its Washington, D.C. campus, University President Peter Kilpatrick urged the graduates to find success in life through trust and gratitude. 

In his first Commencement address as Catholic University’s president Kilpatrick told the graduates that “by leaning into what you learned here as undergraduate or graduate students, and trusting in the education and formation you received here, you will find your way forward.”

“The division, disunity, and toxicity that characterizes our culture in 2023 will not be easy to navigate” in a “culture that believes truth is whatever I make of it,” he said, encouraging the graduates to take a different path.

“I wouldn’t focus your time, attention, and energy on what the culture lacks. Your focus should be on who you are, and what you have to offer this world that desperately needs your light.”

Being grateful is part of a life of happiness, he said, quoting a former Catholic University administrator: “Be grateful for what you have, and do not worry about what you do not have.” 

Arthur C. Brooks, commencement speaker, author, Harvard social scientist, and happiness expert, expanded upon the importance of finding success, not through the right job but through an understanding of self and faith. 

He said the wrong question to begin with is, “What am I supposed to do to find a career that makes me happy?” The first question to ask is “Who am I?”, adding that knowing oneself “requires a process of discernment, of looking for deeper meaning.”

“Any amount of research shows that pursuing success – whether you count that in money, power, or prestige – usually leads to less happiness,” he said. “It turns out that a very good strategy for finding happiness in work is to strive for excellence and love.”

He told the graduates that “God is pure will to love the other, and you are made to do likewise.” Work involves serving many others, from customers to colleagues, but “dedicating your work to the good of others can make what might have been the most imperfect job into a perfect moral mission.”

To conclude his remarks, Kilpatrick gave the example of one of his own favorite saints, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, also known as the Little Flower. Although a “nobody” by the secular norms of success in late 19th century France and someone who died of illness at age 24, “she is widely recognized as one of the greatest saints of the last 200 years…All she did was live her life with  gratitude, tremendous love, and excellence.”

More information about the Commencement proceedings can be found here.

Honorary degrees: The University conferred five honorary degrees during the 2023 commencement. The recipients were Arthur Brooks; National Review Editor Kathryn J. Lopez, B.A. 1997; Thaddeus F. Aubry, Jr., B.A. 1966; Margaret (Peg) Harmon, director, Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona; and Leon A. LeBuffe, B.A. 1966, Ph.D. 1974. Aubry and LeBuffe were key founders of the Partnership Program, established in 1969 to provide scholarships for students of color in the Washington, D.C., area to attend Catholic University. 

About: The Catholic University of America is the national university of the Catholic Church and the only higher education institution founded by the U.S. bishops. Established in 1887 as a papally chartered graduate and research center, the University comprises 12 schools and more than 30 research facilities and is home to approximately 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

Division of University Communications • Washington, DC 20064
communications@cua.edu • www.catholic.edu • 202-319-5600


Daniel Drummond
The Catholic University of America
202-243-8621
drummondd@cua.edu
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