West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III will speak at Wheeling Jesuit University’s 48th Commencement, Saturday, May 13.

“Governor Manchin will be an outstanding Commencement speaker. He will have a meaningful and memorable message for our graduates and we are looking forward to hearing him,” says Rev. Joseph R. Hacala, S.J., President, Wheeling Jesuit University.
During Commencement, Gov. Manchin will receive the Honorary Doctorate of Public Administration.

Also at the Commencement, the University will confer the distinguished Kolvenbach Award on the Sisters of the Visitation, the Sisters of St. Joseph, and all past and current lay colleagues of the University—faculty, staff and administrators.

“This year marks a half-century since we welcomed our first class of 90 students to the campus in 1955. We will recognize the many university collaborators and partners who promote and serve the University’s mission to educate students for life, for leadership and for service,” says Rev. Hacala.

The Kolvenbach Award is named in honor of the Very Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., current Superior General of the Society of Jesus.

Neighbors and collaborators of the University since its founding in 1954, Fr. Hacala says the Sisters of the Visitation came to Wheeling in 1848, and have distinguished themselves in education at Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy and by their presence and ministry in the area. The Sisters of St. Joseph have served in the Diocese and the state for 153 years. Their educational, charitable, and spiritual ministries have long and faithfully served the needs of the state and region.

The faculty, staff, and administrators will receive the Kolvenbach Award for their faithful and dedicated service.

Upon taking office, Governor Manchin has taken responsibility for improving the state's economic climate. He is also committed to making affordable and accessible health care available, a seamless education system for children, prescription drug assistance for seniors, and a better support structure for veterans. Working with the legislature, he has fixed the state's workers' compensation system, instituted insurance reforms, established the first comprehensive teacher pay package in over 15 years, decreased the state's debt, strengthened its ethics laws and reduced the food tax.

He has quickly become a leader on the national scene as well. During just his first year in office he has already been named as Chairman of the National Governor's Association Committee on Natural Resources, Chairman-Elect of the Southern States Energy Board, Vice-Chair of the Democratic Governor's Association and 2nd Vice Chair of the Southern Governor's Association.

Governor Manchin is also an avid pilot, outdoorsman, hunter, fisherman and motorcyclist. He has been married for 38-years to the former Gayle Conelly of Beckley. They are the parents of three children: Heather, Joseph IV and Brooke, and the proud grandparents of Joseph V, Sophie, Kelsey, Madeline, Chloe and Jack.