Judge Memorial presents Class of 2015

Friday, Jun. 05, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Judge Memorial Catholic High School held its 2015 commencement service on May 30, the last graduation of the year for the three Utah Catholic high schools; the other ceremonies were held the previous week. 

The 90th graduating class of Judge Memorial CHS boasted an overall GPA of 3.42; 53 percent graduated with honors. Members of the class will attend 67 colleges in 26 states, and were awarded a cumulative total of more than $21 million in scholarships and renewable grants. As a class, they contributed more than 20,000 hours of service to the community, nearly half that in their senior year alone. 

The salutatorian address was given by Connor Morgan, who will attend the University of Utah in the fall and is interested in pursuing a career in medicine. 

Acknowledging his classmates, Morgan said, “After 720 days of tucked-in shirts, dance rehearsals, plays and musicals, band practices, sporting events, art shows, binge-watching five seasons of Breaking Bad, psych projects, ecosystem visits, English essays, frequent WiFi malfunctions, chem labs, religion presentations, and overpriced – yet delicious – Judge cookies, we have finally made it.”

When he asked Judge librarian and AP Literature teacher Pam Oles what she wishes she had known when she graduated from high school, her response was shocking, Morgan said.

Oles “wished that someone had told her during high school that she was not special,” Morgan said, and after thinking about it, “I realized that this was priceless advice as we graduate from high school. … While I believe that we do have an exceptionally bright, motivated, and talented class, I hope that our culturally-imposed pride and egocentricity do not blind us to our own weaknesses or mislead us into thinking that we are better than we actually are. Humility will serve us well in all areas of our lives, and my theory is that it will help us to live more successful lives – if we define success as I believe it should be defined. Success, to me, is finding happiness and inner satisfaction in this complicated world.” 

Kate Bills, interim principal, asked the class to consider a number of “BEs,” such as BE the one who makes a difference, BE the one who gives back, BE men and women of integrity, and BE grateful. 

Valedictorian Joseph Stokes, who will attend the University of Dallas in the fall, spoke about one of his personal heroes: Karol Wojtyla, who later became Pope John Paul II. 

“When he was our age, he felt his future lay in acting,” Stokes said, “But when events outside his control shut down his dreams, and tragedies like the death of his father struck, he let go of his plans and became a saint.”

The power of ideas in Wojtyla’s life is important, Stokes said; when, after returning to communist Poland one year after being elected pope, St. John Paul II “brought the idea that the life of each person he met was more valuable, and more powerful than any regime the world had seen. Fortunately for the world today, he was right.” 

Ideas can and do grow to shape the world, Stokes said, and “If we take the time to think through our beliefs, and accept what we find to be true, we gain a certainty we know as faith. … The students up on this stage are some of the brightest members of our future, and while it is a bit unnerving, this is a class with ideas that can and will make a positive change in the world.”

After the diplomas were presented, Archbishop John C. Wester, administrator of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, told the graduates that he has been very impressed by their accomplishments throughout this past year.

“You make us proud and you represent our diocese well, and for that I want to thank you,” the archbishop said. “The best way to evangelize – that is, to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ – is to live the faith with joy and enthusiasm, and that’s what you’re doing.”