Emporia State schedules spring commencement

Emporia State University’s Welch Stadium will be filled with the sights and sounds of the institution’s 142nd commencement Saturday, May 16. The ceremony marking conferring of undergraduate and graduate degrees begins at 9:30 a.m.

Approximately 760 students are candidates for undergraduate degrees which they will receive either this month or at the conclusion of summer classes in August. Graduate degrees will be awarded to 350 students.

Commencement speakers will include Dick Hedges, a member of the Kansas Board of Regents. The commencement address will be delivered by Gen. Art Bloomer, a 1955 ESU graduate. Bloomer is now chief executive officer and board chairman of Integrated Data Corporation. He and his wife, Sue, live in Wichita, and Bloomer serves as a trustee for the Emporia State University Foundation.

For those unable to make the trip to Emporia, ESU will offer live, streaming video of the commencement exercise. Links to the video coverage will be posted on the university’s website.

In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be divided into undergraduate and graduate exercises. Undergraduate degrees will be given at White Auditorium, 111 East Sixth Ave., and the graduate degree ceremony will be in Albert Taylor Hall of Plumb Hall. Both exercises will occur at 9:30 a.m. Seating will be limited and will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. Any announcements of weather-related changes in plans will be broadcast on KVOE-AM 1400, KVOE-FM 101.7, or KFFX-FM 104.9.  Information also will be posted on the ESU website at www.emporia.edu.

Additional information, including Emporia lodging accommodations and maps, is available at www.emporia.edu/commencement.

Last Updated May 11, 2009>