St. Norbert College to celebrate class of 2025 at 126th commencement
DE PERE — St. Norbert College will confer degrees on members of the Class of 2025 during its 126th Commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 18, in the Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center on campus.
The college will award 408 undergraduate degrees and 20 graduate degrees. Among the graduates, 222 students will receive honors distinctions.
The class represents 19 states and five countries — the United Kingdom, Peru, Canada, Ecuador and South Korea — spanning four continents.
In addition, 25% of the Class of 2025 studied abroad in 20 countries across five continents. The class includes 53 graduates of the St. Norbert College Honors Program and 144 student-athletes.
Fr.. Dennis Holtschneider, C.M., Ed.D., will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary doctor of laws degree in recognition of his distinguished service to the church, Catholic higher education and the many communities he has served.
He currently serves as chancellor of DePaul University in Chicago and as a Bernardin Fellow of Church Leadership at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
Fr. Holtschneider, a native of Detroit, is a Vincentian priest, educator and advocate for Catholic higher education.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Niagara University, a master of divinity and a master of theology from Mary Immaculate Seminary, and a doctorate in education administration, planning and social policy from Harvard University.
He has taught and held administrative roles at institutions, including St. John’s University, the University at Buffalo and Niagara University.
From 2004 to 2017, he served as the 11th president of DePaul University in Chicago, where he expanded the university’s Catholic, Vincentian and urban mission, earning national recognition for community engagement.
Fr. Holtschneider has also served as chief operations officer (COO) at Ascension Health, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, and on various higher education boards and advocacy groups.
The student speaker will be Macy Edwards, Class of 2025 of Kingsford, Mich., a biology major with a Spanish minor.
Faculty awards will also be presented during the ceremony.
For more information on commencement events, visit //snc.edu/commencement.
Nearly 100-year-old veil preserved for first Communion
GREEN BAY — A veil that was worn by Margaret Carstensen (Steffel) during her first Communion on May 26, 1929, at St. Willebrord Church, Green Bay, was worn once again by her great-granddaughter, Evelyn Liegeois, on May 4, 2025, at St. Elizabeth Seton Church, Green Bay.
Although the original dress is long gone, the veil was preserved by Margaret’s mother, Johanna (Ysebaert) Carstensen, and lovingly passed down through the generations.
Evelyn is the daughter of Beau and Katie Liegeois and was one of 11 receiving the sacrament of first communion on May 4.
