STEUBENVILLE, OHIO—Franciscan University of Steubenville will host its 76th commencement exercises May 10-11, 2024, for 896 students, breaking a record for the largest graduating class in its history for a fourth consecutive year.

The Class of 2024 will be addressed by honorary degree recipients Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr.

Events begin Friday, May 10, at 6:00 p.m. with the Baccalaureate Mass. There will be two commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 11, at 9:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. All events take place in Finnegan Fieldhouse.

“We are deeply grateful and humbled by God’s continued blessings on Franciscan University as we look forward to celebrating the graduation of almost 900 incredible young men and women of faith,” said Father Dave Pivonka, TOR ’89, president of Franciscan University. “The education they have received has prepared them well to tackle the challenges ahead and to be successful in every facet of their personal and professional lives. As mature disciples of Jesus Christ, they will bring the light of joy, hope, and truth to all they encounter.”

At the Baccalaureate Mass, Bishop Caggiano will preside and offer the homily. He will receive an honorary doctorate in catechetics and evangelization for his many years of service and leadership in catechetics and evangelization for the Church in the United States and throughout the world.

Bishop Caggiano was installed as the fifth Bishop of Bridgeport in 2013 at St. Theresa Church in Trumbull, Connecticut. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he was admitted to Yale University in 1977, then transferred to Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception, where he graduated summa cum laude. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 16, 1987, in the chapel of the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, Queens.

A noted catechist, he serves on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis and chairs the Subcommittee on the Catechism. In October 2018, he was one of five American bishops elected by the USCCB to represent the United States at the XV Ordinary General Assembly: Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment at the Vatican.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. will offer the commencement address at both the morning and afternoon ceremonies. He will receive an honorary doctorate in Christian ethics for his decades of exemplary public service and tireless efforts to protect and uphold justice and the rule of law.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on April 1, 1950. He married Martha-Ann Bomgardner in 1985, and they have two children—Philip and Laura. After graduating from Yale Law School in 1975, he served as a law clerk for Judge Leonard I. Garth of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1976-1977. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey, 1977-1981, as Assistant to the Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice, 1981-1985, as Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, 1985-1987, and as U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey, 1987-1990. He was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1990. President George W. Bush nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat on January 31, 2006.

Franciscan’s Class of 2024 comes from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, Texas, Michigan, New York, Florida, Illinois, West Virginia, and 28 other states and 14 countries. Their top 10 majors are theology, business, psychology, nursing, communication arts, philosophy, education, English, catechetics, and history. 2024 also marks the first year students will graduate from Franciscan’s new BS in software engineering.

Franciscan University President Father Pivonka, TOR ’89, will confer the degrees, and Father Joseph Lehman, TOR, chairman of the Board of Trustees, will preside at both ceremonies along with members of the Board of Trustees.

For more information and for a link to a livestream of all ceremonies, please visit

academics.franciscan.edu/commencement/.