In Salute

They did it! Through four wonderful years and through two difficult months as the pandemic closed campus, they worked hard, they strove, they persevered … and they graduated.

The remarkable Class of 2020
May 17, 2020, with a deferred Commencement ceremony in prospect, President Brian Bruess ’90 led the entire St. Norbert family in honoring the Class of 2020: a class for the ages.

In May, we still hoped for the in-person late-summer Commencement ceremony that Bruess refers to in this saluation video. But as the realities of America's life under a pandemic continued to become clearer, the decision was made to celebrate with a virtual celebration to be live-streamed Aug. 29, 2020.

Remember when?
The 600 students in the incoming Class of 2020 came to the starting line of their college career having already begun to leave their mark on their community and their world. Just by running an eye down the list of their pre-college achievements, it was evident that they had already begun living into communio; maybe they were always destined to be among our own! We celebrated their arrival on campus back in 2016 with our invitation to Meet the Class of 2020.

July 24, 2020

Hats-Off Handoff

We couldn’t do Commencement as usual. But how about a handoff video celebration as our new grads tried on their caps and gowns? (We mailed their academic apparel to their homes in a surprise package filled with St. Norbert goodies to celebrate with, plus a complimentary copy of “Man on Fire,” the biography of Norbert of Xanten by President Emeritus Tom Kunkel. The Class of 2020 is the last class to have known Kunkel as their president.) Grads celebrated by donning their academicals, planting "SNC Grad" yard signs, marking the occasion at home with their friends and families, and creating this light-hearted virtual celebration.