Clare Cullinan Urges Notre Dame Class of 2025 to Be the Light of Christ Amid a Divided and Darkened World

Standing before a sea of caps and gowns, amid the hallowed halls and storied traditions of the University of Notre Dame, valedictorian Clare Cullinan addressed the graduating Class of 2025 with words that echoed beyond the confines of the commencement stage. Her message, rooted in faith, conviction, and the unique spirit of the university, was not simply a celebration of academic achievement, but a call to action in a world that, as she put it, is “marked by great division and discord.”

Cullinan’s speech resonated not just because of its eloquence, but because of its deep understanding of the times in which this class has come of age. These students have endured years marked by a global pandemic, cultural upheaval, political polarization, and challenges to longstanding social norms. But through all of it, Cullinan said, Notre Dame has been more than a school — it has been a sanctuary, a forge of character, and a beacon of the values that form the foundation of a meaningful life.

“Though we are living in times of great division and discord,” Cullinan began, “Notre Dame has given us the gifts, sense of responsibility, and capability to heed God’s call to be the light of Christ in what can be a dark world.”

There was a solemnity in her words, but also a radiant hope. For Cullinan, the Notre Dame experience is not one confined to academics or athletics, nor to dorm life or football Saturdays, but something far greater: a formative journey that cultivates both intellect and soul. The university, in her view, is not just a place of learning but of becoming — becoming people who can stand as countercultural witnesses in a fractured world.

Cullinan’s message struck a chord because it refused to settle for surface-level inspiration. It challenged. It invited. It demanded reflection. And it drew a clear line between the privilege of education and the responsibility that comes with it. Her words cast a long shadow, not of gloom, but of responsibility — the kind that befits a Notre Dame graduate.

To Cullinan, the light of Christ is not an abstract theological concept. It is embodied in the everyday choices people make: the courage to speak truth in a world that prizes convenience, the humility to listen deeply in conversations riddled with noise, the resolve to serve others even when sacrifice is required. The Notre Dame community, she said, has uniquely prepared its graduates to be that light — not because it is a place of perfection, but because it is a place rooted in purpose.

“We’ve been taught to think critically, to ask the hard questions, to debate with charity and conviction,” Cullinan said. “But we’ve also been shown what it means to live with integrity, to pray with faith, and to walk humbly with God and with one another.”

Indeed, her remarks encapsulated what makes Notre Dame distinct in the landscape of American higher education: a commitment to excellence that never divorces intellect from soul, faith from action, or learning from love. Cullinan drew upon these foundations not to reminisce but to chart a path forward — one in which each graduate has a role to play in healing the world’s fractures.

It was a speech forged in the crucible of shared experience. Cullinan herself is not removed from the realities she described. Like every member of her class, her college years were shaped by disruption and uncertainty. She arrived at Notre Dame during a time when masks and distancing marked the campus experience. But instead of despair, she discovered community. Instead of isolation, she found solidarity. And through it all, she emerged with a sense of mission that was palpable in every word she delivered.

“This light we speak of — it isn’t ours alone,” she said. “It comes from the heart of Christ, yes, but it is magnified by the community we’ve built here. When we challenge ourselves to share this light of the Notre Dame community with all we encounter, we create something truly worth celebrating.”

That celebration, as Cullinan sees it, is not confined to a single day of commencement, but to every encounter a graduate will have beyond the Golden Dome. Her speech reminded listeners that education, particularly one grounded in Catholic tradition, does not culminate in a diploma — it begins in service. Service to family. To neighbor. To the stranger. To truth. To justice. To faith.

There was no mistaking the sense of urgency in her voice. Cullinan knows the world her peers are entering. A world of war and peace, of digital revolution and moral confusion, of loneliness and longing. She did not minimize these realities, but rather framed them as the very spaces where the light of Christ is most needed — and where Notre Dame graduates are most equipped to go.

She pointed to the examples already present in their lives: professors who gave more than knowledge, mentors who walked beside them in struggle, campus ministers who called them to deeper prayer, and classmates who became chosen family. These, she suggested, are not just memories, but models.

As Cullinan’s words echoed over the crowd, it was hard not to feel the weight of what she was asking. To live as light in a dark world is not a sentimental ideal. It is, in many ways, a defiant act — a refusal to surrender to despair, division, or apathy. It is a daily discipline. A costly grace.

But it is also joy. And that joy — fierce, humble, radiant — was unmistakable in the young woman speaking on behalf of her class. Her voice, steady but passionate, invited every graduate to consider how their lives might become testimonies to the faith, hope, and love they had cultivated on this campus.

In her final lines, Cullinan offered not a farewell but a commissioning. With arms figuratively outstretched, she sent her peers forth — not merely to succeed in careers or earn accolades, but to transform the world by becoming people of mercy, justice, and peace.

“We go forward not alone, and not without purpose,” she said. “We go forward with the gifts of this place and the call of our faith. So let us go — and let us be light.”

Applause thundered across the stadium. It wasn’t just appreciation for a well-written speech — it was recognition. Recognition that these words captured something essential about what it means to be a Notre Dame graduate. Something enduring. Something divine.

In the days and years to come, the Class of 2025 will scatter across the globe. They will take up jobs and fellowships, pursue further education, join volunteer programs, raise families, and face trials that no commencement speaker can predict. But wherever they go, Clare Cullinan hopes — and believes — that they will carry something more than a degree. They will carry the light.

And in a world crying out for hope, that might just make all the difference.