Speaker-in-Chief

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, March 27 — When St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., holds commencement exercises May 11, the graduates and their guests will be addressed by the president of the United States. James Towey, president of St. Vincent’s, formerly worked in the White House as director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Towey said he was pleasantly surprised by President Bush’s acceptance of the invitation, as the White House receives hundreds of similar requests each spring.

Class & Mass

SWINDON ADVERTISER, March 19 — A Catholic college that opened in England last fall in temporary facilities chose the feast of St. Joseph to unveil, and begin using, its new campus. St Joseph’s Catholic College welcomed more than 350 people, including former students and instructors, to a thanksgiving Mass at its “state-of-the-art” setup in Swindon. Swindon is a town in the county of Wiltshire, which is located in the southwestern part of the country.

New Leadership

KSWO-TV, March 27 — Saint Gregory’s University, a 132-year-old Benedictine institution in Shawnee, Okla., has hired 57-year-old Dave Wagie as president. Wagie served 32 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring in July 2004 as a brigadier general. He has more than 20 years’ experience in college-level education, including service as provost at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. Wagie replaces Abbot Lawrence Stasyszen, who last year was elevated to chancellor. St. Gregory’s is the oldest institution of higher ed in the Sooner State.