SLU's Newest Alums Cheered at Commencement Ceremony
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.
Graduates watch confetti fall during the Midyear Commencement on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. Photo by Sarah Conroy.
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.
Latest Newslink
- SLU Launches William L. Clay, Sr. Institute of Civic Engagement and Economic JusticeThe Clay Institute will provide immersive learning experiences and hands-on training that address the social and economic challenges facing the St. Louis region and the nation. Institute programming will be available to all students with an interest in civic engagement and democratic participation.
- SLU Research Explores Depression's Ripple Effect on DiabetesA study conducted by researchers at Saint Louis University found that patients with depression were more likely to have uncontrolled diabetes over time and that depression contributes to a heightened economic burden to diabetes management.
- SLU/YouGov Poll: Statewide Cell Phone Ban for Missouri Schools Popular with VotersGovernor Mike Kehoe has signed Senate Bill 68 into law, enacting a statewide ban on the use of personal electronic devices, including cell phones, tablets, and smartwatches, throughout the school day in Missouri public and public charter schools.
- SLU Vaccine Center Will Enroll Healthy Volunteers in Yellow Fever Vaccine Clinical TrialSaint Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development will enroll up to 70 adult volunteers in a clinical trial to study the safety elicited by a new investigational vaccine for yellow fever, a potentially deadly disease that is spread by mosquitoes. The research is funded by Sanofi Pasteur.
- Feser Joins Global Jesuit Assembly During First Week as SLU's PresidentAs he began his tenure as Saint Louis University's 34th president, Edward Feser, Ph.D., represented SLU as a delegate at the 2025 Assembly of the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU).
- SLU Partnership with St. Louis Catholic Academy Middle School Education Yields Improved Outcomes One Year OnA partnership between Saint Louis University's School of Education's Herrmann Center for Innovative Catholic Education and St. Louis Catholic Academy has yielded improved test scores and student outcomes in the middle school population after its first year. The SLU School of Education provides resources to St. Louis Catholic Academy's middle school.