Benedictine College names three valedictorians, 472 graduate in Atchison

Benedictine College’s top graduates gave the clearest signal of the school’s reach in Atchison: three valedictorians, each with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, used Commencement to reflect the values the college says it is trying to instill in students and in the city around them.

The college’s 54th Annual Commencement Exercises were held Saturday, May 16, in Atchison, where 472 seniors received diplomas. At Benedictine, students who earn a perfect 4.0 over four years are named valedictorians and invited to speak at graduation, and this year’s remarks aligned with the institution’s stated mission of educating students within a community of faith and scholarship.

Antonia Smith, a graphic design major from Charles, Minnesota, spoke about community. She described Benedictine as a place shaped by people who give of themselves, and said the culture is built by givers, not the other way around. In the college’s fuller account, Smith pointed to life in the classroom, lab, on the athletic field, in the studio and among friends as places where students gave themselves to the wider Benedictine culture.

Kristine Schueller, an accounting major from Last Chance, Colorado, centered her remarks on faith. She pointed to Mass, adoration, friendships and the example of faithful people around campus as places where students encountered truth, and urged her classmates to keep seeking what is good, beautiful and true. Her comments matched Benedictine’s own description of campus worship, prayer and action as part of a Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts education.

James Myjak, a computer science major from Atchison, gave the most personal remarks of the three. He spoke about the influence of a sibling who had also been a valedictorian, the challenge of changing majors, late nights writing reports and the death of his father from cancer during the prior semester. He also said one of college’s most valuable lessons was learning to receive and give constructive criticism honestly and charitably.

Taken together, the three speeches reflected Benedictine’s broader identity. The college traces its roots to 1856, when two Benedictine monks arrived in Atchison at the request of the Vicar Apostolic of Leavenworth, and to 1858, when they opened a boarding school with six students. The school later merged with Mount St. Scholastica College in 1971. Today, Benedictine says its strategic vision, “Transforming Culture in America,” rests on community, faith and scholarship.

The ceremony also honored Alex Lynch, a senior who died of cancer one week before Commencement. Benedictine presented his framed diploma to his parents, and many graduates wore yellow ribbons in his memory. Keynote speaker Peter Cancro, founder and chairman of Jersey Mike’s, also addressed graduates as the company’s Month of Giving was highlighted for raising almost $143 million for local charities over the past 15 years.