SPEAKER — Samuel A. Alito Jr., associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, gave the commencement address during Franciscan University of Steubenville’s 76th-annual commencement exercises Saturday. -- Christopher Dacanay

STEUBENVILLE — Franciscan University of Steubenville graduated its largest class for the fourth year in a row Saturday, this time with an address from perhaps one of the school’s most high-profile commencement speakers.

Samuel A. Alito Jr., associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, encouraged graduates to “go out boldly and engage the world,” during Franciscan’s 76th-annual commencement exercises, when the university graduated a record 896 students.

The Rev. Dave Pivonka, TOR, university president, introduced Alito, a Catholic who has served on the court since 2006.

A 1975 Yale Law School graduate, Alito also has served as a law clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals Third Circuit, assistant U.S. attorney in the district of New Jersey and assistant solicitor general and deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice.

In his introduction, Pivonka cited Alito’s writing of the majority opinions in 2014’s “Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.,” regarding religious freedom, as well as 2022’s “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,” which overturned 1973’s “Roe v. Wade” and declared that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, and the authority to regulate abortion should be delegated to the states.

Upon Pivonka’s mention of the “Dobbs” decision, applause and a standing ovation erupted from those gathered in the Finnegan Fieldhouse.

Alito said he was honored to speak at Franciscan, having “admired (it) from afar for many years” due to its being modeled in a way he wished more institutions would follow.

The world is rougher than ever, Alito said, meaning what they do in life is more important than ever. He proceeded to offer pieces of advice based on the Constitution, the “backbone” of his career in law.

One lesson was the “need to be rigorous and disciplined in identifying the things that are really fundamental,” based on the Constitution’s being grounded in objective principles, Alito said. Likewise, he urged individuals to identify what is fundamental in their lives and hold onto them.

Another lesson stemmed from that, with Alito noting that the Constitution is laborious to amend. Alito said the Constitutional framers wanted to ensure that future hardships do not tempt others to change those fundamental principles on a whim.

“For almost all of us, there will be troubling times, times of temptation. When they come, if we have fixed and clear principles, principles that are written in bold letters in our hearts, we may be able to find our way through, but if we don’t, we could easily go astray.”

Waters in the outside world are currently troubled, Alito said, adding that colleges are decreasingly remaining places of “reasoned debate” and that the freedom of religion is under pressure. Alito cited remarks of encouragement that came from Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., who presided over Franciscan’s baccalaureate Mass Friday

The graduates will face challenges, Alito said, but their education should have prepared them to meet those challenges in the way St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan religious order, would have.

Two more lessons from Alito included engaging in open discourse and holding fast to traditions, just as courts in the U.S. look to precedents from previous legal decisions. Even though individuals nowadays generally know more than their ancestors, that’s not true about fundamental truths understood throughout the ages, he said.

In closing, Alito said, “I look forward with American optimism to see what you all do when … you do take the plunge into the real world.”

Alito was presented an honorary doctoral degree in Christian ethics from the university.

Pivonka noted that many undergraduate students in the class of 2024 were among those who never experienced a proper high school graduation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the pandemic, the university had implemented its “Step in Faith” program, which offered 100 percent tuition coverage for incoming students in the fall of 2020. That resulted in the university’s largest incoming class in its history, a class that Pivonka said persevered amid social distancing requirements.

Despite early criticism of the program, Pivonka said, God proved that he is “faithful” and multiplied the university’s efforts. He added that this year has the largest graduating class of online students.

Speaking of the decision to continue education during the pandemic, Pivonka said, “We need one another, and we the university thought it was best that we came together. … And today, we celebrate four years of coming together.”

2020 was the first “step in faith” for the class of 2024, Pivonka said, and graduation marks the beginning of many more steps to come.

According to the university, graduates in the class of 2024 hail primarily from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, Texas, Michigan, New York, Florida, Illinois and West Virginia, along with 28 other states and 14 countries.

The top 10 majors represented in the class are theology, business, psychology, nursing, communication arts, philosophy, education, English, catechetics and history. This was the first graduating class from the university’s bachelor of science degree program in software engineering.