Next week we will join our students and their families to celebrate graduation.

We will have three commencement ceremonies on the Springfield campus and one in West Plains. I will have to miss some of the ceremonies to attend my son’s law school graduation ceremony. However, I hope you will attend some or all of these ceremonies.

The first ceremony is at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 17 in JQH Arena. Graduates from the College of Humanities and Public Affairs and the McQueary College of Health and Human Services will participate in this ceremony.

The second ceremony is at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 17 in JQH Arena. Graduates from the College of Arts and Letters, College of Education and College of Natural and Applied Sciences will participate in this ceremony.

The third ceremony is at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 17 in JQH Arena. Graduates from the College of Business, Darr College of Agriculture and interdisciplinary academic programs will participate in this ceremony.

The fourth ceremony is at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 18 at the West Plains Civic Center. Graduates from the West Plains campus will participate in this ceremony.

Speakers at the ceremonies

I am particularly excited about the exceptional lineup of graduation speakers at this year’s ceremonies:

• Jennifer Moore, the news director and content coordinator for KSMU radio, will speak at the 9 a.m. ceremony on May 17
• Zora Mulligan, Missouri’s commissioner of higher education, will speak at the 1 p.m. ceremony on May 17
• Stephanie Bryant, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, will speak at the 5 p.m. ceremony on May 17
• Brian Fogle, President of Community Partnership of the Ozarks, will speak at the May 18 ceremony in West Plains

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!