Commencement
Commencement is a proud and joyful day for you, your family and friends. Saint Joseph College shares in your academic accomplishments; we hope you will look back on your college years and this milestone celebration with great fondness in the years to come. This page is designed to provide all the information needed to ensure that your day runs seamlessly and offers many happy memories. As you look ahead to May 17, 2009, be sure to read the content included on the links to the left.
If you have additional questions, please contact Connie Seehoffer in the Office of Marketing and Communications at 860.231.5334 or cseehoffer@sjc.edu.
Seventy-fourth Commencement of
Saint Joseph College on Sunday, May 17
Yale University Chaplain Sharon Kugler will receive an honorary degree and address the graduates
WEST HARTFORD, CT – More than 500 undergraduate and graduate students will receive their degrees at Saint Joseph College's 74th Commencement on Sunday, May 17 at 10:00 a.m. under the tent on the main quad of the school's West Hartford campus. Sharon Kugler, the first woman and first lay Roman Catholic to hold the position of Chaplain at Yale University, will deliver the Commencement address to Saint Joseph College's class of 2009. At the ceremony, Ms. Kugler will be recognized with an honorary degree.
Currently serving as the seventh University Chaplain at Yale, Sharon Kugler came to New Haven in 2007 from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where she had served as the University Chaplain since 1993. Ms. Kugler has over two decades of experience in ministry in higher education, interfaith collaboration, pastoral and social ministry. Her main focus at Yale is to further cultivate a chaplaincy for students, faculty and staff which defines itself by serving the needs of the richly diverse religious and spiritual traditions on campus allowing for deeper dialogue, increased accessibility, personal growth, creative educational opportunities and pastoral leadership. Together with the Associate Chaplains, the Chaplain's Office staff and the members of Yale Religious Ministry she is cultivating an inclusive sense of community within a religiously plural population.
Ms. Kugler is the past president of both the National Association of College and University Chaplains (NACUC) and the Association of College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA). She is a graduate of Santa Clara University; holds a master's degree from Georgetown University and is a member of the Theta Alpha Kappa National Honor Society for Religious Studies and Theology. Her master's thesis, "The Limits and Possibilities of Building a Religiously Plural Community" was used by the United States Department of Defense Office of the Chief of Chaplains as a training tool for new chaplains in the military.
A native of northern California, Sharon Kugler is married and has two daughters.
