Missouri State University conferred 1,505 degrees to students at its fall 2021 commencement. Two ceremonies were held at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Dec. 17 at JQH Arena.

First ceremony

Students graduating from the College of Business and College of Education participated in the first ceremony.

Clay Goddard, former director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, served as the commencement speaker at the 10 a.m. ceremony.

Goddard received the Government Excellence Award from Missouri State.

Second ceremony

Students graduating from McQueary College of Health and Human Services, Reynolds College of Arts and Letters, Darr College of Agriculture, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, College of Humanities and Public Affairs and interdisciplinary academic programs participated in the second ceremony.

Missouri State recognized the Reynolds family, longtime friends and supporters of the university, with the Bronze Bear Award at the 1:30 p.m. ceremony.

About the graduates

Missouri State conferred 1,095 bachelor’s degrees, 393 master’s degrees, 16 doctorate degrees and one specialist degree.

Past the standard expectations, the university recognized 20 students for their work with a more rigorous curriculum in Missouri State’s Honors College.

The university also recognized students who graduated with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 or higher:

• 77 students graduated summa cum laude (with GPAs between 3.9-4.0 on a 4.0 scale).
• 78 students graduated magna cum laude (with GPAs between 3.75-3.89).
• 185 students graduated cum laude (with GPAs between 3.5-3.74).