Before graduates of The Catholic University of America’s class of 2015 turned the page to the next stage of their life, they received special advice from a noted page turner: suspense novelist Mary Higgins Clark, the speaker at CUA’s 126th annual commencement on May 16.
That day, she said, they would begin writing the prologue of “your own suspense novel, and it’s called, ‘The Rest of My Life.’”
The best-selling author of 42 books and a devout Catholic, Higgins Clark said the graduates – whether they will be starting a new job, continuing their studies or pursuing a religious vocation – will now be protagonists in their own life story. In her own novels, Higgins Clark said she tried to have her protagonist “be a person who combines faith, optimism, intelligence, generosity and a good sense of humor.”
The ability to laugh at oneself and at fate, “is a cure for both body and mind,” she said, adding that she always tries to give protagonists a good friend, too. “That buddy may be a parent, a sibling, a lifetime pal, but I want all of you to have that kind of person in your life,” she said, adding that her protagonists often find a love interest, “the person who may share your life with you.”
Any good novel, and a good life, inevitably has challenges and problems that need to be solved, Higgins Clark said. “I pray that you, the protagonist, will face up to your problems with determination and strength,” she said.
In her own life, the author has done just that. She began her writing career when her husband died suddenly in 1964, leaving her to raise five school-aged children. She got a job writing radio show scripts, and began writing fiction early in the morning before her children woke up. Four years after her husband’s death, she published her first novel, and since then, she has had 24 best-sellers, and 26 movies based on her novels have been made.
The author said that at birth, everyone receives a special gift. Hers, she said, was to be a storyteller, and she encouraged the graduates to find their own talents and nurture them.
Higgins Clark also encouraged the Catholic University graduates to have unfailing trust in God, and to become moral leaders in an increasingly secular world. “Write the story of your life so it isn’t just a best-selling novel,” she said. “Write it and live it so that it becomes a classic.”
During the ceremony, Higgins Clark was presented with a doctor of humane letters degree by John Garvey, Catholic University’s president. The citation for her honorary doctorate praised her “for her unwavering faith, the example of her extraordinary perseverance, and the gift of imagination that she shares through her writing.”
Also at Catholic University’s commencement, honorary doctorate of theology degrees were presented to Francisco Jose Gomez de Arguello y Wirtz and Maria Carmen Hernandez Barrera, and an honorary doctor of education degree was presented to Michael Novak. “Kiko” Arguello and Carmen Hernandez are natives of Spain and founders of the Neocatechumenal Way movement in the Catholic Church, which now has 30,000 parish-based small communities in more than 110 countries around the world. Novak, a longtime resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington who retired from there in 2009, is a noted Catholic author and philosopher and received the 1994 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion.
As he delivered the invocation, Cardinal Donald Wuerl – who as the archbishop of Washington also serves as chancellor of The Catholic University of America – stood at the east steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which traditionally serves as the stage for the commencement exercises for the adjoining university, with thousands of chairs set up on the campus for graduates, faculty members, parents and guests.
“In four months time, we’re going to have a special guest standing here celebrating Mass and looking out over this campus. Pope Francis will be here to celebrate with all of us,” Cardinal Wuerl said. Recently, he along with leaders from the National Shrine and Catholic University, announced that Pope Francis during his September visit to Washington will celebrate an outdoor Mass at that site, to canonize Blessed Junipero Serra, the famous 18th century Spanish Franciscan missionary priest who established 21 missions along California’s coast.
Cardinal Wuerl encouraged Catholic University’s class of 2015 to always remember that the year of their graduation was when “Pope Francis decided to visit our country, and your campus.”
In his closing remarks at the commencement, President Garvey reflected on the virtue of modesty, highlighting how Fanny Price, the modest protagonist of Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park, was able to guard her hopes and ultimately secure her happiness. He also pointed to the example of Detroit Lions Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders, who instead of doing a dance after scoring a touchdown, simply handed the ball to the referee. And Garvey noted how President Abraham Lincoln, despite occasional withering criticism even from his top aides, took that in stride and continued to rely “on others because he recognized the value of good counsel and the support of his friends.”
Garvey encouraged the graduates to practice modesty as they head out into the world. “First, protect your virtue. I mean all of them. Don’t put yourself in situations that could lead you to vice. You were born to be saints. You shouldn’t settle for less,” he said.
CUA’s president added, “Second, don’t neglect your family and friends. You need their counsel, support and prayers. Finally, don’t neglect your relationship with God. Pray every day. The greatest immodesty is to try to live without God. Without Him, you can do nothing. With Him, all things are possible.”
Also during the ceremony, the President’s Award, the highest university award presented to CUA graduating seniors, was presented to Ginamarie Shaffer and to Elizabeth Tracey, members of the class of 2015 who received bachelor of arts degrees. They were praised as role models and outstanding students who shared their faith with the CUA community. Both served as resident assistants for several years, helping students who live in residence halls there. Tracey, from Lutherville, Md., also served as an orientation advisor for incoming students and families and as a Eucharistic minister at campus Masses, and worked as a student teacher at nearby St. Anthony Catholic School in Washington’s Brookland neighborhood. Shaffer, from Mays Landing, N.J., welcomed potential students as a Cardinal Ambassador in CUA’s Admissions Office, and served as a tutor in Spanish and other subjects for the university’s Center for Academic Success and as an English as a second language tutor for the D.C. community.
Catholic University conferred approximately 1,850 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees during the ceremony. The university’s Columbus School of Law will confer more than 125 degrees at its commencement ceremony on May 22 in a ceremony at the National Shrine. This year’s law school commencement speaker is Michael J. Bidwill, president of the Arizona Cardinals football team and a CUA law alumnus.
