Reflecting on a Memorable Semester

Dear Colleagues, 

With the completion of classes this week, we are officially in the final days of what has been a memorable semester and academic year at Creighton. It seems like yesterday I was extending my best wishes to the incoming Class of 2027 and preparing for our Welcome Week activities, now we are turning our attention to the graduating Class of 2024 and support of our students during their final exams, projects, and papers. 
 
Let me extend my heartfelt thanks to each of you who have walked alongside our students this year and allowed them to find a home among our Creighton community. I do hope you will plan on attending our commencement ceremonies next week, beginning Thursday, May 9, through Sunday, May 12, including our first ceremonies being held in Phoenix for our occupational therapy graduates. I also want to extend a welcome to New York Timescolumnist Nicholas Kristof as our undergraduate commencement speaker this year and look forward to hearing his charge to our Creighton graduates.  
 
Please also join me in congratulating our additional honorary degree recipients: Mogens Bay, chairman of Valmont Industries; Sr. Delores Hannon, RSM, former president of Mercy High School; and Kenneth Stinson, chairman emeritus of Peter Kiewit Sons’, Inc. Each of these individuals has contributed to Creighton’s success, and thereby our students’ ability to pursue a quality Jesuit, Catholic education, through their civic leadership. 
 
The coming weeks and months will be an exciting time for our University as we mark several significant milestones and events that will be taking place over the summer. This includes the dedication of the Jérôme Nadal, SJ, Jesuit Residence this week and its opening later this summer; the razing of Kiewit Hall beginning on May 13 as we continue to operationalize the campus master plan; and the hosting of the Vatican-sponsored Sport at the Service of Humanity Conference this June in conjunction with the College World Series.  
 
As we come together to celebrate our students' achievements and reflect on our collective accomplishments, may we also continue to embrace the new opportunities each of us has to live the Creighton mission. Let me once again say thank you for all that you do, and I wish you a meaningful end to the semester and rewarding summer.

Sincerely, 

Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD

President, Creighton University