May 2, 2023–More than 400 graduates will be honored during Missouri Western State University’s Spring Commencement Ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 6 in the St. Joseph Civic Arena, 100 N. 4th Street in Downtown St. Joseph. The public is invited. Doors open at noon.
Missouri Western will confer 390 undergraduate and 37 graduate degrees this semester. Graduates come from Missouri and 19 other states, as well as nine foreign countries.
The guest speaker for the ceremony will be former U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, who retired earlier this year after two full terms in the Senate. A former college president at Southwest Baptist University, Sen. Blunt has been an advocate of higher education in general, and a friend to Missouri Western in particular. More than 30 years ago, when Sen. Blunt was the Missouri Secretary of State, Missouri Western named its annual Literacy Citation Award in his honor, and he faithfully returned nearly every year to present the award to local literacy champions. Following his retirement, Sen. Blunt donated many of the education-related awards he received during his career to Missouri Western. After a brief dedication ceremony the morning of May 6, the Roy Blunt Excellence in Education Exhibit will be displayed in the Missouri Western Library inside the Hearnes Center.
Also speaking at the ceremony will be graduating senior Caitlyn Thompson, a management major with an entrepreneurship concentration from Williamsburg, Kansas. As a student at Missouri Western, Thompson has worked as a resident assistant and a student mentor. She served the Student Government Association as the director of Griffs Giving Back.
Other public commencement-related activities include:
- Honors Program Medal Ceremony, 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, Fulkerson Center
- International and Multicultural Sash Ceremony, 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 5, Hoff Conference Rooms, Blum Student Union rooms 218-219
- Nursing Pinning Ceremony, 8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 6, Fulkerson Center
- Physical Therapist Assistant Pinning Ceremony, 9 a.m. Saturday, May 6, Kemper Recital Hall, Spratt Hall room 101
- Alumni Commencement Reception, following the Commencement Ceremony Saturday, May 6, meeting rooms in the St. Joseph Civic Arena
- Law Enforcement Academy Graduation, 6 p.m. Friday, June 9, Enright Community Rooms, Spratt Hall rooms 214-216
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.