St. Thomas Aquinas College proudly celebrated its 68th Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 10, at Clover Stadium. With 275 graduates walking across the stage, the day was a vibrant celebration of academic achievement, perseverance, and the boundless potential of the Class of 2025. Family members, faculty, staff, Trustees, and friends filled the stadium, cheering on the graduates as they stepped into their future.
The College was honored to welcome Irene Pappas, Senior Director and head of BNY Investments Contact Centers at BNY Mellon, as the 2025 Commencement speaker. A distinguished executive and dedicated Trustee of the College, Ms. Pappas shared personal reflections and advice drawn from her decades of professional and leadership experience. In recognition of her professional accomplishments and deep commitment to student success, the College conferred upon her the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service.
As part of the celebration, Maurice DuBois—Emmy Award-winning journalist and co-anchor of CBS Evening News—shared a special video message congratulating our Class of 2025, recorded from St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, where he was covering the announcement of Pope Leo XIV.
The Commencement also recognized outstanding student achievements, with valedictorian and student speaker remarks capturing the spirit of resilience, community, and growth that defined the Class of 2025’s college experience.
The ceremony concluded with resounding applause, joyful celebration, and the traditional turning of the tassels — a symbolic step forward into a future filled with promise. Congratulations to the newest members of the Spartan alumni family. The world is ready for you — and you are ready for the world.
About St. Thomas Aquinas College
St. Thomas Aquinas College is an independent liberal arts college located on 76 acres in Rockland County, NY, providing education at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Home to a diverse student body of approximately 2,000 full- and part-time students, the College provides over 100 undergraduate, graduate, and advanced certificate programs across four Schools: Arts & Social Sciences, Business, Education, and STEM. St. Thomas Aquinas College is also the host site for the Lower Hudson Valley Small Business Development Center (SBDC), which provides no-cost, confidential, one-on-one business advisement, training, and research to small businesses and entrepreneurs in our region. The College is ranked among the best Northern Regional Universities and recognized as a Top Performer on Social Mobility by U.S. News & World Report, highlighted in Colleges of Distinction for Business, Education, and Career Development, and designated as a Yellow Ribbon Program institution. St. Thomas Aquinas College is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; its School of Education is accredited by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP), and its School of Business is accredited by the International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE). For more information, visit www.stac.edu.