Congratulations to the 2019 graduating class of Loyola’s School of Communication

May 27, 2019

Congratulations to the 2019 graduating class of Loyola’s School of Communication.

Our graduating Class of 2019, some 230 students strong, is among the largest in the School of Communication’s history.

We’re conferring degrees to a record number of graduate students in our two master’s programs.

More than one third of the graduates have achieved laudatory status – Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude or Summa Cum Laude – for earning grade point averages of 3.5 or above.

Fourteen of our graduates were inducted into the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society, an achievement based on their scholarship and service, and limited to the top 15% of their class.

And a number of our students have already accepted full-time job offers. They’ve been hired by employers such as CBS News, the Chicago Sun-Times, Warner Brothers Music, Golin and Starcom. Others have been accepted into post-graduate programs such as Georgetown Law School and the USC Film School. The will be doing community service for organizations like AmeriCorps and Teach for America.

By all measures, it’s been a good year.

It is the 10^th anniversary of the founding of the School of Communication.

It is the 40^th anniversary of WLUW, Loyola’s student-run radio station.

And it is the 50^th year of the Phoenix, our student newspaper.

We hired three new full-time faculty members, two staff members, and a new dean, Dr. Hong Cheng, who will join us in July.

We invested in new technology to better educate our students, including new virtual reality video cameras, a state-of-the-art podcasting studio and a mobile TV studio in our new storefront news bureau.

We highlighted scholarly research through events like the 8^th annual Symposium on Digital Ethics. And our annual Career Fair attracted a record number of employers and students, even though the campus was being shut down on the eve of the Polar Vortex.

It is our hope that we have instilled these values in all our graduates.

It is our hope that we have given you the knowledge and skills to launch successful careers in communication.

It is our hope that we have taught you to be critical thinkers and ethical human beings.

It is our hope that we have inspired you to explore your faith, to think about social justice, and to be engaged in the communities where you live and work.

And it is our hope that you will share your talents and contribute to the world in a variety of meaningful ways.

It is our hope that we have provided you with a foundation of faith, love and support so you may embrace each experience in life knowing that each turn has a purpose under heaven.

Congratulations again, Class of 2019.