Bishop Alan McGuckian at St Mary's University College Belfast. The recently installed Bishop of Down and Connor, Alan McGuckian SJ attended the Commencement Ceremonies for graduands at St Mary’s University College in Belfast throughout the month of June.
As Chair of the Board of Governors at the College, Bishop McGuckian, presided at celebrations for awards in Religious Education, Liberal Arts, Irish-medium education as well as Physical Education and Sport.
“The Commencement ceremonies bring our College community together as one. They celebrate student success and welcome parents and friends to the campus. At St Mary’s we are very conscious of our Catholic higher education ethos and identity and celebrate this in its world-wide context. In recent times we have invested over £30 million in new campus facilities to ensure that St Mary’s remains a very attractive place to study, visit and work for those who value our ethos and identity,” said the College Principal, Professor Peter Finn KSG.
St Mary’s welcomed guests to its Commencement ceremonies from the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS), Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (CnaG), Queen’s University Belfast and the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO).
Undergraduate and postgraduate students were joined by their families and friends as well as College staff and governors. There was a Mass of Thanksgiving at each ceremony.