Dec. 9, 2022–More than 270 graduates will be honored during Missouri Western State University’s Winter Commencement Ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17 in the MWSU Fieldhouse in the M.O. Looney Complex. The public is invited. Doors open at 10:15 a.m.
State Rep. Brenda Shields
The guest speaker for the ceremony will be State Rep. Brenda Shields. Recently elected to her third term in office, Shields serves parts of Buchanan and Platte Counties in the Missouri House, representing District 11. She is chair of the House Committee on Higher Education and serves on the House Budget Committee.
Prior to serving in the legislature, she worked for the Quaker Oats Company in St. Joseph for more than 17 years, taught business education in the St. Joseph School District and served as the president and CEO of the United Way of Greater St. Joseph. Shields is a graduate of the University of Missouri – Columbia and lives in rural Buchanan County with her husband, Charlie.
Nyajuok Khan
Also speaking at the ceremony will be graduating senior Nyajuok Khan. Khan will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and will enter Missouri Western’s Master of Applied Science in Forensic Investigations program next spring. The oldest of six children, Khan grew up in central Tennessee after her parents fled war-torn Sudan when she was four years old. She participated in the Step Team on campus and served on the YWCA board, and currently serves as a case manager at the St. Joseph Youth Alliance and teaches English Learners through the St. Joseph School District.
Missouri Western will confer 245 undergraduate and 33 graduate degrees this semester.
Other public commencement-related activities include:
- Honors Program Ceremony, 4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, Spratt Hall rooms 214-216
- International and Multicultural Sash Ceremony, 1:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, Spratt Hall rooms 214-216
- Nursing Pinning Ceremony, 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, Fulkerson Center
- Alumni Commencement Reception, following the Commencement Ceremony Saturday, Dec. 17, Practice Gym in the M.O. Looney Complex
Missouri Western State University is a student-centered learning community preparing individuals for lives of excellence through applied learning. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit missouriwestern.edu.