It’s hard to believe it’s finals week.  My first semester at Missouri State has flown by.

Last night we hosted the President’s Breakfast at Blair-Shannon dining center.  With the expert assistance of dining and student affairs staffs, members of administrative council, academic leadership and I manned the lines serving hundreds of hungry students from 9-10 p.m.  This is a long-time tradition during finals at Missouri State and my first time to serve.  Wow – can they eat!  It was great to interact with the students as they took a break from preparing for finals.

The Board of Governors meets on Thursday.  We’ll be honoring our Citizen Scholars during the meeting and at a dinner on Thursday night that includes their families.  I’ll report out more on the meeting next week.

Time to turn tassels

Fall commencement is on Friday and we have two ceremonies scheduled.  We will award 1,400 degrees: 954 bachelor’s degrees, 435 master’s degrees and 11 doctorate degrees.  So many happy graduates and families – it’s an exciting day for everyone.  It’s especially meaningful for our first-generation students.

The first ceremony at 10 a.m. features:

• The College of Education
• The McQueary College of Health and Human Services
• Judith Enyeart Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities.

Gov. Mike Parson will be the commencement speaker.  He will receive the Government Excellence Award.

The second ceremony at 1:30 p.m. features:

• The College of Business
• The College of Natural and Applied Sciences
• The Darr College of Agriculture
• Interdisciplinary Academic Programs

Bryan Magers, a generous friend of the university, will be the keynote speaker.  He will receive the Bronze Bear Award.

Thanks to all the staff and faculty who work hard to make commencement a meaningful experience for our graduates and their families.

Thanks for checking in.  It’s a great day to be a bear!