Ashley Bendiksen of New Bedford Awarded Degree During Salve Regina University's 63rd Commencement

2013 May 21

Ashley Bendiksen of New Bedford, Mass. was awarded a bachelor of arts degree in Administration of Justice summa cum laude during Salve Regina University's 63rd commencement on Sunday, May 19. Bendiksen, the valedictorian, received the Dr. James Farrington Award for Administration of Justice. She is a member of Alpha Phi Sigma national honor society in criminal justice, and Delta Epsilon Sigma national scholastic honor society for students of colleges and universities with a Catholic tradition.

Master stone carvers Nicholas W. Benson and his father John E. Benson, proprietors of Newport's centuries-old John Stevens Shop – the artists behind such works as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the World War II Memorial and the John F. Kennedy Memorial – were presented with honorary degrees and offered remarks to the Salve Regina University community.

Sister Jane conferred 439 baccalaureate degrees, 191 master's degrees, 19 certificates of advanced graduate studies and six doctorates.

Salve Regina, a Catholic, co-educational university founded by the Sisters of Mercy, enrolls more than 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students. Its 80-acre oceanfront campus is in the heart of the Ochre Point-Cliffs National Historic District.