On Saturday, May 15, Xaverian Brothers High School celebrated the commencement of the Class of 2021. Diplomas were conferred to the 179 graduates by Dr. Jacob Conca ’94, Head of School, and Dr. Michael Nicholson, Xaverian’s Principal. The Class of 2021 hails from 47 cities and towns and represents the 55th graduating class since Xaverian opened its doors in Westwood in 1963. Collectively, these young men were accepted to 195 different colleges and universities. They have committed to continue their careers at institutions such as Cornell University, Babson College, Tufts University, NYU, UCLA, Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), Boston University, and Boston College. Fifteen members of the graduating class are legacies, whose fathers also graduated from Xaverian.

The Class of 2021 valedictorian, Nicholas Gillespie is the son of Kevin and Lianne Gillespie. Nick is an avid ultimate disc player, competing all four years at Xaverian. He’s also an active participant and leader in Xaverian’s campus ministry program, traveling to San Diego and Tecate, Mexico on service trips and also volunteering as a peer minister. Nick is a National Merit Scholar, a Harvard Book Award recipient, and a member of the National Honor Society. He will attend Northeastern University next year. 

Neeraj Ramesh is the 2021 salutatorian. He is the son of Ramesh Balan and Shreeranjini Ramesh. Neeraj, a two-sport Xaverian athlete (tennis and cross country), also holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He is a member of the National Honor Society, the French National Honor Society, and was the recipient of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Book Award. He has participated in a variety of extracurricular opportunities at Xaverian, including four years in the car club, as well as being a member of the math team, chess club, and mock trial. This year, he was instrumental in helping to found Xaverian’s new robotics team, and he hopes to continue his focus on robotics next year as a computer engineering major at Carnegie Mellon University. 

Every year at commencement, one senior is selected for the highest honor bestowed to a graduate -- the Xaverian Award. The members of the graduating class, in concert with the faculty and staff, nominate a senior for this special honor and the recipient isn’t revealed until the graduation ceremony. The Xaverian Award recipient must have distinguished himself by living the mission and core values associated with Xaverian. This year’s recipient is described by the Head of School, Dr. Jacob Conca ’94, as “a young man who freely gives of himself to the Xaverian community and to the greater community at large.” He has performed exceptionally well in the classroom while being especially active within Xaverian’s campus ministry program, as well as mock trial and model United Nations. Dr. Conca describes him as “a true giver who believes deeply in service to others.” The 2021 Xaverian Award winner is Athanasios (Thano) Kazis, son of William and Mary Kazis. Thano will attend Suffolk University next year.

You can see the full album of Commencement images on our Flickr page. 

Thomas Arrigal

 Andrew Barton

 Peter Barton

 John Basile

 Leo Bedard

 Ethan Behn

 Michael Berluti

 Luke Birch

 Nicholas Bloom

 Benjamin Blow

 Eric Boulger son of Sean T. Boulger, Esq. '85

 Timothy Bowers son of Mr. Garrett T. Bowers '87

 Nicholas Brancato

 Hans Brings

 Drew Briones

 Tiernan Brogan

 Kevin Brosmith

 Noah Canty

 Vincent Carrara

 Gianni Cassano

 Marc Cedrone

 Benjamin Chase

 Zachary Chaunt

 Justice Ciampa

 Daniel Clarke

 John Connolly son of Mr. John C. Connolly '80

 Trevor Connolly

 Andrew Cookson

 Corey Coye

 Charles Crane

 John Croke

 Joseph Crowley

 Aidan Cullinane

 Conor Cummings

 Spencer Daniszewski

 Nicholas Daoust

 Parker Davenport

 Brandon deSilva

 Daniel deSilva

 Julian Diaz

 Liam Doherty

 Michael Doucette

 Ryan Douglas

 Joseph Doyon

 Aidan Driscoll

 Logan Duhamel

 Jake Dupre

 Noah Eldridge

 Jake Elias

 Daniel Elliott

 Drew Ellis

 Conor Eunson

 Luke Ferguson

 Anthony Ferrara son of Mr. Americo F. Ferrara '90

 Richard Fischer

 Garrett Fish

 Henry Fleckner

 Matthew Folan

 Liam Foley

 Hunter Follen son of Mr. Edward B. Follen '77

 William Fondo

 Justin Foster son of Mr. Justin A. Foster '94

 Christopher Francis

 Joseph Fraone

 Owen Fraser

 Timothy Furey

 Connor Garland

 Thomas Garland

 Colin Gaughran

 Philip Gelso

 Vincent Gilchrist

 Nicholas Gillespie

 Michael Giordano

 Michael Gordon

 Pratham Gujar

 Zachary Hamilton

 Aidan Hanafin

 Joseph Hanna

 Keven Harding

 Camden Harris

 Patrick Hart

 Kyle Harvey

 Connor Hernon

 Kevin Hicks

 William Hoover

 Patrick Hourihan

 Sloane Hubbard

 Ryan Hurley

 Paul Jeannetti

 Karl Johnsen son of Mr. Karl E. Johnsen, Sr. '87

 Aaroh Jugulum

 John Kavey

 Athanasios Kazis

 Alexander Kelly

 Ryan Kelly

 Drew Keohane

 Matthew Kern son of Mr. Stephen Francis Kern '82

 Bryce Kiley

 Steven Koertje

 Thomas Krumsiek

 Aidan Larson

 Dylan LeVangie

 Nicholas Lewis

 Owen Lewis

 Nikolas Lorthe

 Domenico Lupi

 Andrew MacIsaac

 Nicholas Maggio

 Finn Maguire

 Siddharth Mallareddygari

 Samuel Maloof son of Mr. Christopher R. Maloof '86

 Jackson Mandel

 John Manning

 Tyler Marshall

 William McCarthy

 Kevin McGrath

 Matthew McGrath

 Noah McGuire

 Nicholas Mihopoulos

 Angel Montanez

 Giovanni Monteiro-DoCanto

 Cormac Mullen

 James Murphy

 Ty Murphy

 William Nelson

 Samuel Noonan son of Mr. Sean T. Noonan '90

 Michael O'Brien

 Sean O'Brien son of Col. William J. O'Brien, Jr. '83

 Thomas O'Connell son of Dr. Daniel J. O'Connell '68

 Matthew O'Halloran son of Mr. Christopher M. O'Halloran '86

 Connor O'Leary

 Liam O'Neill

 Michael Organsky

 Peter Papavasiliou

 John Pastore

 James Peruzzi

 Brendan Polles

 Sean Popkin

 Shane Queally

 Matthew Raimondi

 Neeraj Ramesh

 Colin Regan

 Dylan Reilly

 Cristian Reyes

 Anilson Rocha

 Sebastien Sanon son of  Mr. Gabriel Sanon MH '89

 Thomas Scarlata

 Dean Schuermann

 Michael Scuderi

 Alexander Seymour

 William Shuley

 Benjamin Silva

 Joseph Siracusa

 Alexander Siris

 Charles Smith

 Tanner Smith

 Shane Spinale

 Zachary Stahl

 John Sullivan

 Shea Sullivan

 Michael Swansey

 Owen Tefft son of Mr. Kevin M. Tefft '84

 Jonathan Tierney

 Pierce Troy

 Matthew Tuccillo

 Aidan Tucker

 Peter Tzanetos

 Russell Vaillancourt

 Nick Vecchione

 Ryan Vona

 Peter Vrees

 Jonathan Welch

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 Noah Wilson

 Hunter Wolcott

 Michael Xidea

 Shafath Zaman

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