12/14/2024

Saturday morning, hundreds of students walked across the stage at Chaifetz Arena and joined the Billiken alumni family.

Saint Louis University celebrated its Midyear Commencement on Saturday, Dec. 14, In front of a packed crowd of family members, friends, and loved ones. Those in attendance and watching at home saw the newest graduates of SLU celebrated.  

The ceremony also marked the final Midyear Commencement for SLU President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D., after he announced in the spring he would be stepping down in the summer of 2025. 

Pestello shared his joy with the graduating class as they marked a milestone in their lives. 

“Congratulations,” Pestello said. “Today you join over two centuries of Billiken graduates. I am proud of you and all you have achieved.” 

Pestello praised the graduates for their hard work and for earning the right to celebrate this day. 

“You pushed through tough assignments that challenged and stretched you,” he said. “You spent hours in the lab. You persevered through clinicals and practicums and internships. You worked through long nights researching capstone projects, and writing theses and dissertations – with nothing but Einstein’s coffee to keep you focused. And at the end of the semester, perhaps cookies (First Lady) Fran (Pestello, Ph.D.) and I pass out.”

Pestello closed his remarks by challenging the new graduates to live life like SLU’s famous mascot, the Billiken. 

VIew the 2024 Midyear Commencement Photo Gallery

“SLU is not just the university you went to. It is the place you go from,” he said. “Wherever your path takes you: Lead with love and mercy. Make ‘things the way they ought to be.’ When asked what a Billiken looks like, show them.”

Associate professor of accounting Neil Jansen delivered the commencement address. Jansen was tapped to give the speech after being chosen by SLU’s chapter of Alpha Sigma Nu as the 2024 Nancy McNeir Ring Award recipient — SLU's highest honor for teaching. 

Jansen joked with the crowd that he was not quite as famous as the Spring 2024 Commencement speaker, Jon Hamm. 

“To our graduates, you may be thinking, ‘Wait a minute, Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Jon Hamm delivered the 2024 spring commencement address and we get an accounting professor?’” he said. “Trust me, I initially had the exact same thought and wondered what on Earth I could say to you. While I will be the first to admit that I lack the street cred of our previous commencement speaker, I do hope to deliver a message today that will be memorable and will help guide you as you navigate the real world both professionally and personally.”

Jansen shared how his parents, Edmund and Norma Jansen, shaped him as he grew up. Being from the small town of Albers, Illinois, Jansen admitted he didn’t know many people outside of his tight-knit community. His parents insisted that when he went away to college, he stay in the dorms and meet new people from different backgrounds. 

“While they were confident that I would gain the technical knowledge to pursue a career in accounting through my formal coursework, they also understood that so much of the knowledge that would help prepare me for life would come from sources beyond the classroom,” he said. “As I progressed through my studies and on to my professional career, I took the wisdom that my parents passed on to me, and I looked for opportunities to continue to learn, whether through professional education, learning on the job, or learning from those around me.”

Jansen encouraged the graduates to use their talents. He said when people found out he was a certified public accountant, he was often asked to help a charitable organization. Requests to help others would be coming to the newest graduates, he said. 

“We are all blessed with talents that we can use to serve those who are less fortunate, and I urge you to say yes to these opportunities,” he said. “Life will undoubtedly be very busy when these invitations present themselves, and the easy answer will be, ‘I don’t have the time right now.’ Don’t give the easy answer; resist the temptation to say no. Some of my greatest opportunities to learn have been through my involvement in initiatives to help others, and they are also some of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”

Closing his remarks, Jansen shared some advice from his father that has stuck with him throughout his life. 

“Growing up, whenever I, or any of my siblings, hit one of the inevitable roadblocks in life and we said, ‘I can’t,’ the response from my Dad was very simply: ‘Can’t means that you don’t want to,’”  Jansen said. “So, graduates, as you move on to the next station in life, be it continuing your education or entering the real world, I invite you to stay on the road of knowledge and to learn from everyone you meet and everything you do. Use your knowledge to live SLU’s mission in ‘the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of God and for the service of humanity.’ 

“And when these pursuits become difficult and you tell yourself ‘I can’t;’ push forward to achieve your goals, and remember that regardless of what Webster’s Dictionary may tell you, ‘Can’t means you don’t want to.’”

After the names of the more than 500 graduates were read and the students walked across the stage, Pestello once again took the stage. In SLU tradition, he reminded the newest graduates that they are forever members of the SLU family.