CSB watches class of 2019 take flight

On a breezy May Saturday that included not a flake of the snow that dusted campus earlier in the week, the College of Saint Benedict watched its class of 2019 take flight. A total of 406 new Bennie alumnae crossed the stage during this 104th commencement ceremony.

CSB President Mary Dana Hinton encouraged confidence in the face of whatever comes next, even if the path forward looks unclear. “Know that your ‘next’ is coming. You are still creating your future. You may be scared, you may have questions, but all of us in this place know that your next is nearly here, and it will be great.”

Hinton went on to paraphrase Psalm 139: “You are more than enough. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.”

For her part, senior class speaker Maren Koester, a psychology major from Bloomington, Minnesota, was clear about what this occasion meant. “For me, this is what I am celebrating today. I am celebrating finding my place of comfort and making Saint Ben’s a home. I am celebrating the friends I have met, the faculty I have learned from and the challenges I have faced. But most importantly, I am celebrating how Saint Ben’s manifested the confidence and courage to be myself. These are the things I want seared into my memory from this moment in my life.”

The commencement speaker was Mary Thompson, a CSB Trustee, advisor to G100 Network and former journalist with CNBC. She encouraged graduates to be prepared to lead and to say yes to opportunity. “Remember, the person who asks you to take on a greater role wants you there because they think you are capable, not because they want you to fail. They see in you someone who may not have all the answers and skills now, but is smart enough to figure out what questions to ask and what people to surround yourself with to do the job and do it well.”

See the 2019 CSB Commencement Photo Gallery.