Catholic Charities CEO Kerry Alys Robinson to Give Le Moyne College’s 2026 Commencement Address

Five to Receive Honorary Degrees for 2026 Commencement

Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), will deliver the commencement address at Le Moyne College’s 76th Commencement, which will be held on Saturday, May 16 at 11 a.m. in the Exposition Center at the New York State Fairgrounds. Beginning this year, Le Moyne is combining its graduate and undergraduate commencement into one ceremony.

A passionate advocate for the renewal and vitality of the Catholic Church, Kerry has championed philanthropic innovation, ethical leadership and inclusive collaboration across faith and civic communities. Named to lead Catholic Charities of USA in 2023, Robinson oversees one of the nation’s largest networks dedicated to advancing social justice, promoting human dignity and serving those most in need. Prior to her role at CCUSA, Kerry served as founding executive director and global ambassador of Leadership Roundtable, which, in the wake of the abuse crisis, fostered greater transparency, accountability and lay partnership in Church leadership. As a teenager, she joined the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities, an organization founded in 1945 by her great-grandparents, renowned philanthropists John and Helena Raskob. She has been an adviser to and trustee of more than 25 grantmaking foundations, charitable nonprofits and family philanthropies and served 15 years on the national committee for the USCCB’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development. A lifelong proponent of laity in more leadership roles in the Catholic Church, she was invited by the Vatican to advise on how to better empower and engage women leaders. In addition to being a sought-after speaker, Kerry is the author of Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy and a Spiritual Call to Service and founding editor of The Catholic Funding Guide. In 2025 she was presented with the University of Notre Dame’s 2025 Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics.

Robinson is one of five individuals who will be awarded an honorary degree by the College. Others who will receive 2026 honorary doctorates are:

• Dr. Mary Lynn Collins, who launched Le Moyne’s Master of Science for Teachers and Master of Science in Education degrees in 1995 and served as chair of the College’s Education Department for 19 years. Dr. Collins began her career teaching at the elementary and secondary levels in New York state and Maryland before joining Le Moyne in 1975. During her tenure, she helped establish the foundation for Le Moyne’s modern Education programs, developing undergraduate degrees in both elementary and special education, and responding to the needs of local schools and aspiring teachers with innovative new pathways to the classroom. As president of the Faculty Senate, she championed collaboration, shared governance and academic excellence and was known for her intellect, high standards, and deep compassion, qualities that made her a trusted mentor to countless students and colleagues. She left the College in 1998 to join the Abraham S. Fischler School of Education at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where she served for 17 years as a professor of Teacher Education and Professional Development.
• An educator for nearly seven decades, William Watters, S.J., is the founder of three scholarship-supported Jesuit schools for underprivileged Baltimore City children. The three schools – St. Ignatius Loyola Academy founded in 1993, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School founded in 2007 and The Loyola School founded in 2017 – have transformed the region’s educational ecosystem. First sent to be the priest at St. Ignatius to determine whether the struggling parish should close, he instead created an education system through the church. After being involved with the three institutions for more than 30 years, in he retired as president of The Loyola School in 2024. But his legacy lives on – by his own estimation, by 2027 Father Watters anticipates the three schools will be educating 680 students “to be men and women for others who are deeply grounded in intellectual excellence, social and moral values and religious and spiritual convictions.” Earlier in his career, Father Watters taught at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia (1959 to 1962 and 1967 to 1969) and at Loyola Blakefield (1969 to 1975). Between 1975 and 1984, he was assigned as provincial assistant of Pastoral Ministries, ministering to 200 Jesuits engaged at parishes, retreat houses, hospitals and social centers. In 1985 he became pastor at Old St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia before being missioned to Benin City, Nigeria in 1989 as a pastoral assistant and acting pastor at St. Joseph’s Church, a parish with over 10,000 parishioners. While in the Nigeria, he established Joseph House and chaired a committee to initiate a plan to build Loyola Jesuit College in 1995, a Jesuit secondary school, in the Federal Capital of Abuja. Father Watters’ education includes a bachelor’s in speech and communications from Fordham, a Master of Religious Education from Loyola University Chicago, and an M.A. from Toronto University. Born on March 1, 1934, in Montclair, N.J., he entered the Maryland Province Society of Jesus in Wernersville, Penn. on July 30, 1952 and was ordained by Richard Cardinal Cushing in 1965.
• Wright Lassiter, III ’85 is the president and chief executive officer of CommonSpirit Health, the largest Catholic hospital system and the second largest non-profit health system in the U.S. Prior to taking being named to this position in 2022, Wright previously served in leadership roles at several other health care organizations, including president and CEO of the Henry Four Health System, CEO of Alameda Health System, senior vice president of JPS Health Network and vice president of the Dallas Methodist Medical Center. In 2024, Wright and his wife Cathy’s $1 million gift established the Wright, III ’85 and Cathy Lassiter Endowed Head Men’s Basketball Coach. The gift was the first seven-figure athletic gift in College history and the first time a coaching position has been endowed at Le Moyne. During his time on the Heights, he distinguished himself as a student-athlete as a member of the men’s basketball team; he was inducted into Le Moyne Athletics Gold Wave Hall of Fame in 2014. A member of the Le Moyne College Board of Trustees from 2012 to 2021, Wright earned a degree with honors in chemistry and an MHA in healthcare administration from Indiana University Indianapolis.
• Dr. Ruth Chen, an environmental toxicologist and professor of practice at SU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, she previously served on the faculty at the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis. As an advocate for inclusivity and a champion for underrepresented groups Dr. Chen has made substantial contributions to the advancement of academic excellence and diversity, reflecting Jesuit values by promoting social responsibility, intellectual engagement, and a commitment to the common good. Prior to her career in academia, Dr. Chen served as state toxicologist for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), responsible for risk assessment and risk management decisions. In that capacity, she received a bio-monitoring grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and simultaneously served as Certification Officer responsible for managing Tennessee’s Drinking Water Laboratory Certification Program. Dr. Chen was a staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health working on pharmacokinetics and detoxification of Tylenol. She also has served as the human health epidemiologist for the Tennessee Department of Health.