Benedictine College honors Molly Tynan with Young Alumni Award

Benedictine College used its graduation weekend to put Molly Tynan in front of the next class of Ravens, honoring the Class of 2018 graduate with the 2026 Young Alumni Award during the Senior Champagne Brunch on May 15 in the Dining Hall.

The award is reserved for alumni under 35 who have distinguished themselves in their professions and communities while supporting Benedictine’s values. In Tynan’s case, the college tied the recognition to both her career path and her presence as a visible example of what a Benedictine education can produce after Commencement ends.

Each year, the Young Alumni Award honoree returns to address graduating seniors at the brunch the day before Commencement, turning the event into more than a sendoff. Benedictine said Tynan spoke to the graduates about her experience at the college and how it strengthened her faith, a point that linked her recognition to the institution’s emphasis on Catholic identity as much as professional achievement.

Tynan’s recognition came as Benedictine marked its 54th Annual Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 16, when 472 seniors walked across the stage in Atchison. The timing placed her address directly in the middle of the college’s biggest public celebration of the year, with seniors preparing to leave campus and alumni being held up as living proof of where the school hopes they will go.

Benedictine has made the Young Alumni Award part of that larger pattern. Gabriel LeBeau, Class of 2020, received the honor in 2024, and John Monroe, Class of 2015, was recognized in 2023. The repeated use of the award shows that the college sees young alumni not as an afterthought, but as part of its public identity and its message to current students and families weighing what a Benedictine degree can lead to.

An earlier Benedictine profile identified Tynan as a Gregorian Fellow graduate working in Washington, D.C., where she was promoting pro-life and other causes. The college said that experience shaped how she lived out her Catholic identity in public life, a detail that helps explain why Benedictine chose her for a role meant to speak directly to graduates about service, conviction, and the responsibilities that come after leaving Atchison.