Holy Angels Honors 142nd Graduating Class

The 104 members of AHA Upper School’s Class of 2022 concluded their years at the Academy on June 3, 2022. The Academy’s 142nd graduating class assembled at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, where The Most Reverend Michael A. Saporito celebrated the Baccalaureate Mass with assistance from Deacon John L. Sylvester.

“These amazing young women could really teach us a few lessons about patience, about resilience, about grace, and about faith,” AHA President Melinda Hanlon said as the graduation ceremony began.

This senior class earned acceptance to some of the nation’s finest institutions of higher learning, including Dartmouth, Princeton, and Yale. In total, the seniors earned $12.4 million in college scholarships and amassed 23,608 service hours.

Madeline Risbud graduated First in Merit and was named commencement speaker, the highest honor AHA can confer upon a graduate. Grace Watson was Second in Merit, and Ria Jani, AHA’s National Merit® Scholarship Finalist, was chosen by her peers to deliver the senior response.

“Be the voice that provokes progress,” Risbud told her peers, speaking of the importance of defining the changes the world needs most, and engaging in respectful dialogue to effect those changes.

Immigration law specialist Emily Bendaña McHale, J.D. (AHA ’02) addressed the Class of 2022 on the 20th anniversary of her own graduation. Bendaña earned her bachelor’s degree at Boston College. She began working in merchandising, but changed careers when she witnessed a friend’s struggle with deportation. Based on her AHA education, she decided to stand up to injustice. She earned her juris doctor from the Elizabeth Haub School of Law, and now works with asylum seekers and individuals seeking status through family petitions.

“Continue to be a voice,” she said, adding a heartwarming shout-out to her best friend and fellow Angel who was present that day.

Jani discussed the challenges of online learning during the height of the pandemic, yet described an overwhelming sense of togetherness. She said she believes the AHA sisterhood will last a lifetime.

“All of you have already changed my life for the better,” Jani told her classmates.

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