Fairfield University President Jeffrey von Arx, S.J., kept to his policy of having a commencement speaker with Jesuit ties and a familiarity with Fairfield.
British Robinson, senior advisor for public partnerships in the office of U.S. Global Aids coordinator, will be the speaker at Fairfield University’s 56th commencement, according to Director of Media Relations Nancy Habetz.
“She is an example of a lay person who has worked closely and effectively with Jesuits; she knows the Jesuit mission well,” Fr. Richard Ryscavage, S.J., said.
Robinson has worked for the U.S. Jesuit Conference. She began as a policy analyst in the office of Social ‘ International Ministries (SIM) and soon became the national director of SIM as well as the national director of the Jesuit Refugee Services USA.
Ryscavage is a long-time, former colleague of Robinson’s.
Along with Jesuit ideals, Robinson is very familiar with Fairfield University. Several years ago Robinson helped set up the formal relationship between the Jesuit Conference and Fairfield University, according to Ryscavage.
She has also worked with Fairfield since then.
“She oversaw the Jesuit conference end of the many research projects that faculty from Fairfield launched using the Jesuit social priorities,” Ryscavage said.
These projects have included banking discrimination in Bridgeport, evaluation of the Jesuit Volunteer Corp and developing a database for Jesuit social ministry in the United States, according to Ryscavage.
Ryscavage believes Robinson, a graduate of Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies, will be an excellent commencement speaker for the class of 2006.
“She is young enough to be a model for students; I think students will be able to relate to her age and her interesting career choices,” he said.
Seniors have mixed feelings about Robinson as their commencement speaker.
Kim Czarnecki ’06 would rather have a speaker whom she has heard of before.
“When you know who the speaker is, you feel like they have some sort of importance, like the school has put in an effort to make the commencement special,” she said.
“I don’t understand the obsession with getting a big name speaker besides the idea that it would be ‘cool’ to have a celebrity,” John Gallagher ’06 said.
Gallagher met Robinson in the fall at a Fairfield sponsored dinner and applauds the university’s reasoning behind the choice.
“I think British Robinson is a great example of someone who can offer something meaningful. Her work it helping our country and the world and, assuming she is an engaging speaker, she might leave our class with some inspiration,” he said.
At this year’s commencement, Robinson, along with three other honorees, with receive an honorary Doctor of Law degree.
The other honorees are Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations; Michael Daly of Fairfield, Conn., a WWII Medal of Honor recipient and a member of the board at St. Vincent’s Medical Center; and Hope E. Carter of New Canaan, Conn., a committed volunteer to Malta outreach programs in both Haiti and Connecticut.
Fairfield University’s 56th commencement ceremony will take place May 21.
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