University of Mary 64th Commencement Ceremonies are Saturday, April 26

Mary Jo Feltl to receive honorary doctorate degree, Reverend Francis Joseph Hoffman to give commencement speech

BISMARCK, ND — On Saturday, April 26, the University of Mary will award degrees to 1,001 graduates at its 2025 commencement. The ceremony begins at 2:30 p.m. in the Bismarck Event Center, Seventh Street and Front Avenue, Bismarck.

Founded and sponsored by the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery of Bismarck, the University of Mary will award 587 bachelor’s degrees, 339 master’s degrees, and 115 doctoral degrees. These students come from 42 states and represent 15 countries.

86 received the summa cum laude designation, 96 earned magna cum laude designation and 147 students received the cum laude designation.

Additionally, 24 students have earned the Certified Schafer Leader designation from the Harold Schafer Emerging Leaders Academy, and 144 students are recognized as Year-Round Campus graduates for fulfilling their degree in 2.6 years.

• The 2025 Commencement is a ceremony of firsts for Mary: 
• First cohort of graduates for the Doctor of Business Administration
• First graduate in the Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering
• Founding members of Cappella graduating
• 2025 graduates include the cohort of freshmen who entered in Fall 2021: despite the challenges of navigating pandemic pressures that year, the Fall 2021 freshmen group is the highest retaining class in our known history

Honorary Doctorate Degree Recipient 

— Mary Jo Feltl

Mary Joanne Feltl was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in a family with her four sisters and three brothers. She attended St. Columba Grade School and Saint Agnes High School, where her faith grew steadily. She began working in her father’s bakery when she was 12 years old, and after graduating from high school, she worked as a bookkeeper for a local plumbing company. There, she learned the skills of successful business operation, and when the company’s accountant left, she quickly learned and assumed his responsibilities.

In 1963, Mary Jo married her husband, Jack, and the two moved to Hopkins, Minnesota, where she worked a number of part-time jobs and, once their children started school, energetically volunteered at their school and in their extracurricular activities. In 1987, Mary Jo joined her husband at the investment company where he worked, and she began overseeing the firm’s operations and technology development. In 2000, the firm was acquired, and Mary Jo and Jack resigned their positions in order to develop their owninvestment firm: Feltl and Company.

In Feltl and Company’s early years, Mary Jo oversaw the operations of the company while studying to obtain her broker’s license and principal license, and her husband and their son managed the company’s investments. When Jack passed away, Mary Jo took the helm of Feltl and Company and assumed oversight of Key Community Bank, helped and supported by her children, John and Beth.

Mary Jo always credits her success first to the Lord and to her Catholic faith, which gave her the strength to persevere amidst life’s challenges. When she has been faced with doubts about her skills and abilities, she has always turned to the good and talented people she has gathered around her. These habits of reliance—on the Lord and on family and friends—have been the key to the abundance that has allowed her to support Catholic education so generously through efforts such as the Saint Agnes Catholic EducationFoundation.

In the course of her work within Catholic education, Mary Jo visited the University of Mary over 10 years ago with several high school students as part of a live broadcast of Relevant Radio’s program, “Go Ask Your Father.” But when she saw how the high school students loved the University, she decided to organize an annual trip to give students an opportunity to visit Mary. Now, Mary Jo invites hundreds of students from the Twin Cities to join her every year in traveling to the University of Mary.

In every pursuit, Mary Jo grounds her efforts in the joy and simplicity of the Gospel message. More than anything else, she wants young people to know that they are never alone, that they can conquer anything in their path with their own willingness and God’s help.

Commencement Speaker

— Reverend Francis Joseph Hoffman, JCD

Rev. Francis Joseph Hoffman (Father Rocky) is the chairman and CEO of Relevant Radio, a radio network based out of Illinois that aims to assist the Church in the New Evangelization by providing relevant programming through media platforms to help people bridge the gap between faith and everyday life. He has served as CEO since 2010 and as Chairman of the Board since 2021, and under his leadership, Relevant Radio has expanded to include the Relevant Radio app—the most popular free Catholic radio app in the United States—and to broadcasting on 223 AM & FM stations and reaching282,000,000 people across the country.

Father Rocky was born and raised just outside of Chicago, the youngest of eight children in a faithful Catholic family. His father was a captain in the United States Army during World War II and later worked as an entrepreneur and manufacturer. His mother first introduced the Hoffman family to Opus Dei in 1970, when Father Rocky was a young boy, and he began receiving religious education and formation from the Center for Opus Dei in Chicago. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in History from Northwestern University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame,Father Rocky was working in tax and audit when he discerned the Lord’s call to the priesthood, and he entered seminary formation with Opus Dei. Following his ordination as a priest in 1992, he began studies in Canon Law, earning a Doctorate from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and writing his doctoral thesis on Pope Saint John Paul II’s letter Ex Corde Ecclesiae and American Catholic universities. Upon completing his doctorate studies, Father Rocky was assigned as chaplain of Northridge Prep School in Chicago and spent summers serving in the rural highlands of Michoacan, Mexico.Father Rocky has distinguished himself as a noted author and speaker and has appeared on major radio and television networks. He is the author of six books, including Mary at the Crossroads of History, The Memorare Moment, and Marriage Insurance, with hundreds of thousands of copies in circulation. Father Rocky’s video productions — which include “Eucharistic Encounters,” “Lenten Lessons on the Mass,” and “Catholic 101” — have been viewe millions of times. Father Rocky is also the host of “Family Rosary Across America,” which gathers tens of thousands of faithful each evening to pray the rosary.

In addition to his role at Relevant Radio, Father Rocky serves on the board of the Walk to Mary in Green Bay, the National Eucharistic Revival in Washington, DC, and as an advisor to Aquinas Academy in Pittsburgh.

The 2025 University of Mary graduation ceremonies can be viewed through live streaming at: www.lifeatmary.com

Anyone who wishes to learn more about the University of Mary can do so at www.umary.edu or  online.umary.edu, or by contacting an admissions representative at enroll@umary.edu, or by calling (701) 355-8030. The University of Mary is one of only 15 Recommended Cardinal Newman Society Residential Colleges and universities in the US. 

About the University of Mary: True to its motto “lumen vitae”—The Light of Life—the University of Mary offers education for the whole of life through cutting-edge professional programs and graduate programs animated by moral courage and leadership in chosen professions and service to the community. A private, co-educational Catholic institution, the University of Mary welcomes students of all faiths and backgrounds.

A Christian, Catholic, Benedictine institution founded in 1959 by the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery, Mary offers over 60 bachelor’s, 15 master’s, and five doctoral programs—in Business Administration, Education, Nursing Practice, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy. The 19-sport Athletic Department adheres to its Greatness Through Virtue mission under the governance of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) conferences. With more than 3,800 students, Mary has locations in North Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Rome, Italy, as well as vibrant online offerings.