Baccalaureate 2008
The 2008 Baccalaureate Service
Sunday, May 18, 10:30 a.m.
St. Paul's Chapel
About the Service
This remarkable event features a procession that includes undergraduate degree candidates from Columbia College, the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of General Studies, and Barnard College. School deans, the University chaplain, and faculty and administrators also participate. Some of the highlights of the service include hymns and musical selections performed by student musicians and choirs; and readings, reflections and speeches by students, including a Senior Reflection and a Family Tribute.
The service is coordinated jointly by the Office of the University Chaplain and University Event Management.
History
The Baccalaureate Service is believed to have originated at Oxford University in 1432 when each bachelor was required to deliver a sermon in Latin as part of his academic exercise. Since the earliest universities in this country were founded primarily to educate ministers, the British practice of the Baccalaureate Service was continued.
The tradition of the Baccalaureate Service at Columbia University began after the move to Morningside Heights in 1897. The Baccalaureate Service is now an interfaith, intercultural service celebrating the completion of each undergraduate's academic career, and is the opening event of Commencement week.
2008 Keynote Speaker
The 2008 Baccalaureate Keynote Speaker was Cardinal Edward Egan, Cardinal Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo and Archbishop of New York.
Cardinal Edward Egan was born in Oak Park (archdiocese of Chicago USA) on 2 April 1932. He was ordained a priest on 15 December 1957 in Rome following studies at the Seminary of Our Lady of the Lake in Mundelein and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was a priest in Holy Name Cathedral Parish in Chicago and secretary to the Archbishop, Cardinal Albert Gregory Meyer. He continued his studies in Rome from 1960-1963 obtaining a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorain University. While in Rome, he was Vice-Rector of the Pontifical North American College. On returning to Chicago, he was secretary to Cardinal John Cody and held diocesan positions related to Ecumenism and Social Relations. He was appointed an Auditor of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota on 20 November 1972 and taught at the "Studio Rotale"and at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of New York on 1 April 1985 (with the titular diocese of Alleghany) and was consecrated in Rome on 22 May 1985 by Cardinal Bernadin Gantin, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. He was made Bishop of Bridgeport on 5 November 1988 and then Archbishop of New York on 11 May 2000.