Mount St. Mary's University will host its 217th commencement exercises at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 11 in Knott Arena. The ceremony will celebrate the achievements of 608 graduates, including 414 undergraduates, 168 graduate students and 26 seminarians.
Undergraduate degree recipients, 31 of whom completed their degrees in the Division of Continuing Studies:
Gracelyn McDermott, C'93
The commencement speaker is Gracelyn McDermott, C’93, vice president for marketing, sales and business development at Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States. The second woman and first African American to lead the 31-member Mount St. Mary’s University Board of Trustees as chair from 2021 to 2024, McDermott oversaw a period of growth at the Mount that included the establishment of the School of Health Professions. She became a trustee in 2013 and served as vice chair from 2016 to 2020.
McDermott will be honored with a doctorate of humane letters in recognition of her service to the university and the regional and state communities.
Yasier Herrera, C'25
The student speaker is Yasier Herrera, recipient of the 2025 Edward J. Flanagan Memorial Prize, awarded to the member of the senior class who best represents the tradition of the university in scholarship, conduct, and leadership. Herrera, a biology major with minors in German and theology, is an honors student who serves as a lab assistant in Assistant Professor Sarah Krueger's lab, a peer tutor, a resident assistant and the host of a WMTB radio show. She exemplifies the Mount mission of forming ethical leaders who serve God and others. Her active involvement in Campus Ministry included leading in the Women's Fellowship and in small groups for the Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults.
Heavily involved in the Center for Service since sophomore year, Herrera was a RISE Student Leader for service-learning immersion trips and completed a semester in the Common Good Initiative, where she worked with off-campus partners. As a Guyana Mission Trip volunteer in 2022, she led youth activities, and she has been a part of welcoming high school students to the seminary's annual Mount 2000 retreat.
Following graduation, Herrera will serve a year as a missionary with Source of All Hope in Baltimore, ministering to Baltimore's homeless population.
Jake Cuzick
A chemistry major from Baker, Oregon, Cuzick has become the first Mount St. Mary’s University undergraduate student to be named an awardee of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP). The five-year fellowship includes three years of funding for graduate school as well as an annual stipend. During his four years at the Mount, Cuzick received numerous accolades and awards. In addition to conducting research in the labs of Associate Professor of Chemistry Isaac Mills, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Krueger, Ph.D., and serving as a student instructor in organic chemistry classes, he was awarded competitive summer internships at Boise State University and University of Illinois, was granted a Goldwater Scholarship in 2024, and was named a Knight-Hennessy semifinalist earlier this year.
After graduation - University of Pennsylvania, Synthetic Chemistry Ph.D. Program and conducting total synthesis research under Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacology Dirk Trauner, Ph.D.
Emily DiGiovanni
An elementary education major, DiGiovanni was an active participant in the Education Club, Italian Club and Mount Fellows. She served as president of the National Educational Honor Society Pi Lambda Theta Gamma Tau Chapter and a member of the National Honor Society for Catholic Colleges Delta Epsilon Sigma. DiGiovanni received the Joanne Vignali Cushman Memorial Prize, awarded to the student who consistently demonstrates those qualities essential to dedication in the field of education.
After graduation - Teacher, Frederick County Public Schools
Owen Eby
A biochemistry and chemistry major, Eby is a semifinalist for a Fulbright Study Research award to study in the lab of Elena Conti, Ph.D., director of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany. At the Mount, he has conducted research in the labs of Associate Professor of Biochemistry Michael Turner, Ph.D., and Associate Professor of Chemistry Patrick Lombardi, Ph.D. Eby also conducted summer research in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology lab of Thomas Schwartz, Ph.D. and the lab of Kristen Varney, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and chemistry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
After graduation - Harvard University Medical School, Biophysics Ph.D. Program
Ford Rubel
Rubel has made Mount history, becoming the first student to win two competitive awards simultaneously, according to the Office of Competitive Fellowships. In addition to becoming the first Mount student to be awarded the Critical Languages Scholarship, Ford has become the first student since 2002 to be named a prestigious JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program) recipient. The JET, sponsored by the Japanese government, provides the opportunity to work in schools and government offices throughout Japan.
After graduation - Japan Exchange and Teaching Program
Three cadets from the Mount’s Class of 2025 will be commissioned on May 9. They are Sophia Cendar, Lorenzo DiVentura and Kevin Zaleski. Litzy Leiva, C'23, MBA'25, received the Lancer Award for outstanding performance and exemplary leadership in the Mount St. Mary's University U.S. Army ROTC program.
Mount St. Mary's Seminary held a Solemn Vespers and Conferral of Degrees and Certificates in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception on May 2. Over the next several weeks, the 26 graduates will be ordained as priests in their home dioceses.