Thomas More College of Liberal Arts will honor the graduating Class of 2024 during Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 18. The College is pleased to welcome Msgr. Marc Montminy of the Diocese of Manchester as this year’s Baccalaureate Mass Celebrant and Carl Anderson as the Commencement Speaker.
Mr. Anderson served as Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus from 2000 to 2021 after a distinguished career in government and academia. As former assistant to President Ronald Reagan, member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and founding vice president and dean of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C., Mr. Anderson is one of the most dedicated champions of Catholic social teaching. Prior to serving as Supreme Knight, he taught family law and related topics first at the John Paul II Institute’s branch at the Pontifical Lateran University and then in Washington, D.C.
He is the bestselling author and editor of over half a dozen books, including A Civilization of Love: What Every Catholic Can Do to Transform the World (HarperOne, 2008) and Beyond a House Divided: The Moral Consensus Ignored by Washington, Wall Street and the Media (Doubleday, 2010).
Mr. Anderson has been executive producer on numerous award-winning documentary films, including John Paul II in America: Uniting a Continent (2014), Guadalupe: The Miracle and the Message (2015), Liberating a Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism (2016), and Enduring Faith: The Story of Native American Catholics (2022).
Mr. Anderson has received numerous awards, including the Servant of Peace and Path to Peace Awards of the Path to Peace Foundation of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, the Totus Tuus Award of the Polish Bishops Conference, the Gold Palm of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher, the Patronal Medal of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Imago Dei Award of the Archdiocese of Denver, the Canterbury Medal of the Becket Fund, the Human Life Review’s Great Defender of Life Award, the Pro-Life Legacy Award of the March for Life, the John Cardinal O’Connor Award of the Sisters of Life, the Faith and Culture Award of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, and the Order of Merit from the Government of Poland.
He has been a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, Pontifical Council for the Laity, and Pontifical Council for the Family. He has served as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He currently serves as a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops committees on Religious Liberty, Pro-Life Activities, and International Justice and Peace.
Mr. Anderson is responsible for establishing the Villa Maria Guadalupe Retreat Center, operated by the Sisters of Life since 2004, as well as the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., which was opened by the Knights of Columbus in 2014. During his tenure as Supreme Knight, he expanded the Order into Poland, Ukraine, France, Korea, and Lithuania.
Mr. Anderson is a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, the Order of St. Sylvester, and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher.
For further reading:
Bringing the Flame of Faith to the World:The Class of 2023 Graduates
