Graduation 2023

John Paul the Great Catholic University held its 15^th annual commencement on Saturday, August 26th at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Escondido. The commencement exercises celebrated 70 undergraduate students from the Class of 2023, plus 11 more who graduated last December. Congratulations to all of our new alumni!

Graduating Class of 2023

Freshman Photo 2020

Thursday and Friday before Graduation, JPCatholic hosted several events to celebrate student accomplishments. On Thursday morning, the Acting Practicum showcase at the Ritz Theater screened capstone short films, scenes, and music videos, along with a live musical performance. In the afternoon, a Visual Arts Showcase on campus exhibited a variety of digital and traditional artwork from the graduating class, along with a demo of Potions and Emotions, an interactive visual novel created by the senior Game Development students that will be published on Steam.

Thursday evening at the Ritz Theater, JPCatholic premiered O, Brawling Love!, the first project in JPCatholic’s feature program. The screenplay was written by senior Isabella Lake (‘22) and Prof. Chris Riley, and directed by alumna Maggie Mahrt (‘10). Over 50 students were involved in bringing the film to life, including acting senior John Howard (‘22) who was cast in a leading role.

On Friday afternoon at the Ritz,, JPCatholic Theatre Productions presented The Pirates of Penzance, directed by Prof. Katelyn Slater and Mary Wenner (‘22) and featuring a cast of seniors and other students.

In the evening at the Ritz, JPCatholic presented the Senior Project Screening, a premiere of capstone projects from Film, Animation, and Game Development seniors. The event was emceed by Prof. Nathan Scoggins, and audiences enjoyed a showcase of five live action short films, two animation projects, and a video game trailer.