The culmination of the Class of 2024’s time at Marist School was marked by heartfelt celebrations and ceremonies honoring the memories, achievements, and values they cultivated during their Marist journey. These moments captured our graduates’ commitment to faith, community, and excellence.

Seniors and families gathered in Hughes Spalding Stadium on May 24 for a twilight Baccalaureate Mass. The hour provided a beautiful backdrop for honoring the seniors on the eve of their graduation. Mass featured celebrant and homilist Bishop Joel Konzen, S.M., former Marist principal.

He urged the Class of 2024 to seek wisdom by aligning with truth and goodness, saying, “To build a life on both what is true and good means that we are singling out certain values and certain truths to live by. And then when you build your future, your direction, on those values, it’s not just something nice to do, it’s the way that you give meaning to your life.”

Baccalaureate Mass featured readings by Mary Evans Bucko ’24, Camron Abshier ’24, and Gabby Ovadje ’24, with Marist students serving as student altar servers, ushers, and extraordinary ministers of holy Communion. The ceremony concluded with the “Salve Regina” led by Marist priests, offering a fitting blessing over the seniors as they are called to share their gifts with the world.

On May 25, the Class of 2024 gathered at Hughes Spalding Stadium for their commencement ceremony. Principal Kevin Mullally set the tone by emphasizing the role of memories in shaping beliefs and providing a solid educational foundation. He highlighted notable memories that the graduating Class of 2024 may cherish from their time at Marist, including 10,348 hours in service to others, 963 books checked out from the library, 192 unique courses taken, and five athletic state championships in their final academic year.

He encouraged, “Let these memories preserve and sustain you in the very good and sometimes difficult times to come.”

Senior Class Co-Presidents Gabby Ovadje ’24 and Musse Woldu ’24 delivered the readings, setting the stage for salutatorian Brennan Ujda ’24 and valedictorian Alec Issa ’24 to address their peers with reflections on their Marist journey.

Ujda expressed gratitude to his fellow classmates, faculty, and families for their unwavering support over the years, saying, “You showed me again and again how this community is capable of being there for one another, caring for one another, and loving one another. That was a more important lesson than I received in any classroom.”

Issa commented, “It does not matter what you do but rather how you do it.” Both statements illuminate Marist's aim to foster a community rooted in love, care, and compassion, while encouraging individuals to make a meaningful impact through their character and actions.

Commencement speaker Bill Roche ’76, who chaired Marist’s Board of Trustees for 11 years, addressed the graduates with an echo of Bishop Konzen’s message, emphasizing the importance of maintaining strong principles when facing life’s challenges. “How do you effectively navigate all these changes? I believe that the key is to have a strong moral compass. Your north star. Even as things change around you … you can never lose sight of your foundational principles, your core values, and your fundamental sense of right and wrong. The great news is that as you sit here today, you already have all the tools that you need to do this. As I look back on the nearly 50 years since I graduated, I realized that everything I needed to know, I really learned at Marist.”

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To the Class of 2024, let your Marist memories guide you! Remember that Marist has equipped you with the faith, values, and knowledge you need to continue doing good work for yourselves and for others.