Merit Pages News
(May 25, 2024) — Nicholas O’Brien of Killingworth has received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from College of the Holy Cross.
O’Brien was among 751 Bachelor of Arts degree recipients celebrated at the school’s 178th Commencement on May 24, 2024. Dr. Laurie Leshin, director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and former president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, delivered this year’s address to the Class of 2024 and received an honorary degree.
In her remarks, Leshin spoke about the forward-looking, visionary pioneers who have paved the way for space exploration success through the years, and stressed the importance of being audacious and pushing boundaries.
“This is my challenge to you, Class of 2024: to dare mighty things together,” said Leshin. “You certainly inherit an imperfect world. A planet, a society, with flaws. But I have faith in you.
“You have the vision. You have the intelligence and the drive. And if you can you think big, pursue audacious ideas, and do so with passion and commitment, mind-blowing things are possible.”
In addition to Leshin, Holy Cross also awarded an honorary degree to Rev. Paul F. Harman, S.J., a longtime Holy Cross administrator who played a key role in the College’s transition to coeducation fifty years ago.
The College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts, is among the nation’s leading liberal arts institutions. A highly selective, four-year, exclusively undergraduate college of 3,200 students, Holy Cross is renowned for offering a rigorous, personalized education in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition.
