North Central News
North Central College Celebrates 2024 Graduates
May 06, 2024
On May 5, North Central College’s 159th Commencement brought together students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees, family and guests to celebrate in the College’s Residence Hall/Recreation Center. The Class of 2024 comprised 698 graduates — 535 bachelor's degree candidates and 163 master's candidates — representing 27 different states and 17 different countries and territories.
It was the first North Central Commencement presided over by Dr. Anita Thomas, who began as the College’s 11th president on July 1, 2023. In her welcome remarks, Thomas told the graduates: “… the world needs you and your curiosity. Your pluck. Your determination. Most of all, the world needs the qualities that a North Central College education has imparted in you, no matter your degree or career aspiration.”
Scott Wehrli '91, mayor of Naperville, also greeted the graduating class. Wehrli said, “Regardless of where your path takes you, we wish you the best — and please know that Naperville is always going to be home for you.”
The baccalaureate degree candidates included 166 who were among the first generation in their family to graduate from college. One first-generation graduate was Tahbata Montserrat Zuniga Diaz '24 from Bolingbrook, Ill., who was selected to speak on behalf of the graduating class. A student in the College Scholars Honors Program, Zuniga Diaz majored in English and political science. Outside the classroom, she served as a leader and peer advisor through her involvement with several campus organizations.
After describing the impactful experience of a service trip she went on during the spring term, Zuniga Diaz said: “We have all had moments on this campus that will fundamentally change how we view the world … I hope we can apply what we have learned from our professors, our parents, and each other, as colleagues, to all the different spaces we’re about to enter.”
Next, the College conferred an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree on Dr. Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith America, a Chicago-based, national non-profit. In his Commencement Address, Patel compared democracy to a potluck dinner: “Potlucks don’t exist without people bringing a dish. Democracies do not survive without people making a contribution.”
After the presentation of diplomas, the new graduates were welcomed to the North Central College alumni family by Erin Bishop ’93 on behalf of the College’s Board of Trustees. Bishop, who is assistant general counsel at Caterpillar, told the class: “This place will always be your home. You will always have people here — on campus and throughout the alumni network — who care about you and who will support you.”
Watch the 2024 Commencement Ceremony on our Commencement page.