Mary Ann Dillon, President of Mount Aloysius, and Dr. Leo Gensante, Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Professor Paul Hahn, an advocate of Catholic values in the criminal justice system, delivered the commencement address. Hahn advised the graduating students to find success through integrity, values and a relationship with God. Reminding the Class of 2000 that the truest and most lasting rewards in life are not material ones, Hahn pointed out that as society measures success according to the fool s gold of bigness, speed and affluence, the rates of suicide, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, divorce, and other societal ills continue to escalate. Hahn recommended that the graduates seek true happiness and success by striving to possess an integrity of mind and spirit.
Integrity is required for joy.
There is simply no joy when we cannot feel good about what we have done, or when we know that we have violated conscience, said Hahn. Asserting that no one can build a life of integrity without help, Hahn encouraged his audience to grow in faith and enhance personal relationships with God. The fastest and most sure route to success and happiness in our life and in our work is to stay in a very close relationship with the good God from whom all blessings come. If we, with all of our weaknesses and temptations, can just hold still and allow Him to transform us, there are no limits to our potential for success and personal joy, said Hahn. Founder of the Department of Criminal Justice at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, Hahn served in 1999 as advisor to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as they drafted a new statement on criminal justice.