Dear Loyola community,
I’ve been sharing this news whenever I encounter students who are graduating, but I’m thrilled to announce to the entire Loyola community that the keynote speaker for the 2023 Undergraduate and Graduate Commencement ceremony will be New Orleans’s own Jon Batiste. The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 13 at the UNO Lakefront Arena. And the Honorable Judge Carl Barbier, J.D. ’70 will address the College of Law Class of 2023 at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 12 at the UNO Lakefront Arena.
Jon Batiste has won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for his latest studio album, “We Are.” He shares an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, NAACP Image Award, and Critic’s Choice Award for his work on the Disney/Pixar movie “Soul.” Batiste also served as the musical director and bandleader on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” from 2015–2022 and has appeared at the White House, Kennedy Center Honors, U.S. Open, and the NBA All-Star Game.
Batiste embodies the creativity and vibrancy that make our city and our campus so unique. I can’t think of a better speaker to energize and inspire our graduates as they prepare to take the next step in their journey.
U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier served 24 years on the bench in the Eastern District of Louisiana before retiring earlier this year. Barbier grew up in New Orleans and graduated from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 1970.
As a federal judge, he handled a number of large, complex cases including litigation over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest oil spill in the nation’s history, which involved tens of thousands of cases. In 2018 he was awarded the St. Ives Award, the highest honor awarded by the College of Law Alumni Association. I know that our law graduates will be deeply inspired by his words.
Graduating students, I cannot wait to celebrate this important milestone with you and your families and to hear from both of these excellent speakers. Please visit the Commencement website for more information as you make your plans to attend.
Justin Daffron, S.J.
Interim President
