On Saturday, May 16, 2015, Carroll College (Helena, Montana) conferred degrees on 300 graduates during its 105th commencement ceremony held in the Carroll PE Center. The ceremony included a number of awards and honors for students, alumni, faculty and special guests.
The commencement speaker was Mr. Jack Hanna. Jack Hanna is a conservationist, television personality, author and Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and the Wilds. Mr. Hanna also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Carroll College during the ceremony. The conferral of an honorary degree recognizes the degree recipient’s lifetime achievement and contributions to society and our world community. Presenting the award was Carroll College President Dr. Tom Evans.
The class of 2015 senior speaker was Jay Bouchard from Goffstown, New Hampshire. He graduated with a major in English writing and a minor in political science. Bouchard is planning on pursuing a career in journalism. He has been accepted for graduate studies at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Highlights of his Carroll career include his involvement with The Prospector student newspaper—where he was a columnist and editor, the Honors Scholars program, Gold Team Student Ambassadors, Campus Ministry, Headlights service trip, CAMP (Carroll Adventures and Mountaineering Program), and last year’s pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, Italy. Bouchard sees his career goal of being a journalist as a vocation which will allow him to be a voice for the voiceless.
The Michael Murphy Award for Outstanding Collegiate Citizenship was presented to Jay Bouchard. Bouchard is highly regarded for his personal integrity, positive disposition and genuine care for others. In the classroom, he was an engaged learner and an Honors Scholars student. Most importantly, Bouchard represents valuable lessons on human dignity and social justice.
The college’s Bishop Gilmore Memorial Award for Outstanding Scholarship, awarded to seniors who have attained the highest grade-point average after four years at Carroll, was awarded to seven graduates: Colton Philip Ard of Lewiston, Idaho; James Michael Dorosh of Mead, Washington; Alisa Marie Dowling of Burlington, Washington; Brianna Lynae Eaton of Billings; Faith Marie Kjosa of Helena; Jaclynn Marie Mee of Libby; and Kathleen Elizabeth Mulligan of Des Moines, Washington.
At the ceremony, the college also announced that two retiring faculty members, Dr. Tomas Graman and Mr. Jack Oberweiser, Jr., have both been conferred the title of professor emeritus. Dr. Graman has served the college for over 26 years as a professor of Spanish and Linguistics. His energy and vision shaped the Spanish program at Carroll. In his scholarship as well as his teaching, Dr. Graman has been a tireless advocate of critical pedagogy and intercultural understanding. His professional achievements include being a senior Fulbright scholar in Xalapa, Mexico, publishing numerous scholarly articles and giving scores of presentations at national and international conferences throughout the U.S. and in Mexico, Spain and Cuba. He is known as an active scholar, enthusiastic professor, and stalwart colleague. During his 26 years at Carroll, Mr. Jack Oberweiser, associate professor of mathematics, has not only been an effective, popular and beloved teacher, he has been a caring and engaged participant in the Carroll community. In addition to always making himself available to students in need, he has been on six trips to Mexico with Engineers Without Borders and has traveled seven times with a team led by a Montana dentist to Haiti, Columbia, Ecuador, and Argentina to assist with providing dental care in impoverished communities.
Two annual faculty awards were also conferred. The Outstanding Teaching Award recipient was Mr. Gary Fischer, assistant professor of engineering, whose active learning opportunities, strong mentoring skills and steadfast commitment to the success of his students merited the award. The Distinguished Scholar Award was awarded to Dr. William Parsons, associate professor and chair of the department of political science, for his significant scholastic work as a foremost authority on Machiavelli along with his recent success in securing a grant to expand Carroll’s constitutional studies program.
Download the 2015 Commencement Program
Carroll College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts and pre-professional college in Montana's capital city of Helena. Carroll College has earned top national and regional awards for its academic programs, professors and extraordinary tuition value. For four years in a row, Carroll has been ranked as the number one regional college in the West by U.S. News & World Report. www.carroll.edu.