Buffalo, NY –Canisius University celebrated the Class of 2025 during commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 17, at the Koessler Athletic Center, during which two distinguished alumni speakers challenged graduates to embrace their roles as servant leaders committed to the greater good.
The day began with the 10:00 a.m. ceremony for the College of Arts & Sciences, where Rev. Zachariah F. Presutti '07, SJ, delivered the commencement address to graduates and their families. The university conferred approximately 270 degrees at this ceremony. The afternoon ceremony at 1:30 p.m. celebrated graduates from the Wehle Business School and the School of Education and Human Services, with Zeneta B. Everhart '11, Buffalo Common Councilwoman, serving as the featured speaker. Canisius conferred about 500 degrees at this ceremony.
Both speakers received honorary doctorate degrees from Canisius University President Steve K. Stoute, who emphasized the university's 154-year legacy of forming ethical-minded, justice-oriented servant leaders and celebrated the ways in which both speakers exemplify the Canisius mission in action.
“Leadership is about recognizing the inherent worth of every individual, solving problems and striving for the common good," Stoute said to the Class of 2025. "Your Canisius University education has prepared you to look at the world around you and say—we can do better, and then do it."
The Class of 2025 embodied this spirit of ethical-minded leadership in remarkable ways. Courtney Lyons' rigorous academic preparation, coupled with close faculty mentorship, earned her acceptance to Georgetown University Law Center where she plans to pursue criminal justice reform and non-profit defense work. Kian Porhomayon transformed from a shy freshman into a confident leader and mentor who received the Robert J. Butler Award for Leadership and now heads to the Jacobs School of Medicine with a commitment to humanistic care. Katie Castiglia, recipient of the Amy Betros Community Service Award, will dedicate her first post-graduation year to serving marginalized youth through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in California.
The commencement speakers reinforced these themes of service and transformation in their addresses to the graduates.
A Message of Hope and Transformation
Father Presutti, founder of the Thrive for Life Prison Project, shared a powerful message about the transformative power of grace and community. Drawing from his work with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, he told graduates that "no one is beyond the reach of hope."
Father Presutti shared the story of an ex-gang member and former prisoner whose transformation demonstrated "just how big God is." He challenged the new graduates to remember that "when someone has faith in you, it can spark a miracle," and urged them not to overlook or write off people on the margins but rather to run toward the world's needs "armed with compassion and deep courage."
Embracing Pressure as a Privilege
Councilwoman Everhart delivered a powerful message about resilience and authenticity to graduates from the Wehle Business School and School of Education and Human Services. She challenged them to view pressure as a privilege, reminding them that opportunities don't come easily to everyone.
"On days when I am tired, exhausted ... I remind myself that I am literally living my ancestors' dreams and the pressure I'm under is a privilege," Everhart told the graduates. "And so as you get your degrees today, and you go out into the world and you're working and you're tired and you don't want to do something, remember having that pressure put upon you is a privilege. Everyone does not get to where you are today."
Everhart shared her own journey as a 27-year-old student at Canisius, raising a 7-year-old son while going through a divorce. She recalled visiting her advisor's office several times a month to say she was going to drop out. "Talk about pressure," she said. "But I had to recognize my privilege, right. It's a privilege and it's going to make you a better person in the end."
She urged graduates to embrace their authentic selves: "Be big ... be your biggest, most authentic self – some people are not going to like your bigness. They don't like the light but I need you to continue to be the light, be bright."
Everhart concluded by reminding graduates to always think about serving others the way their Canisius education taught them, to give of themselves, and to live out the Jesuit mission. "I don't know what jobs you might all be going after ... but what I do know is that Canisius has prepared you to go out there. It has prepared you to be big."
Father Zach Presutti graduated from Canisius in 2007 with a degree in political science. A licensed social worker, he also serves as Catholic chaplain at Rikers Island and holds a master of social work from Saint Louis University and a master of divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. His Thrive for Life Prison Project operates houses of studies in partnership with universities including Columbia, New York University, and St. John's University.
Zeneta Everhart earned her bachelor's degree in communication studies from Canisius in 2011. She made history in 2023 by becoming the first woman in more than 60 years to represent Buffalo's Masten District on the Common Council. Her path to public service was shaped by the 2022 Tops tragedy, after which she testified before Congress, contributing to the passage of the Safer Communities Act, the first federal gun legislation in more than 30 years.
The Class of 2025 joins Canisius University's worldwide alumni network of more than 50,000 graduates.
Canisius was founded in 1870 in Buffalo, NY, and is one of 27 Jesuit colleges and universities in the U.S. Consistently ranked among the top institutions in the Northeast, Canisius offers undergraduate, graduate and pre-professional programs distinguished by close student-faculty collaboration, mentoring and an emphasis on ethical, purpose-driven leadership.
