More than 3,000 K-State students are degree candidates in spring 2024
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Kansas State University will host commencement ceremonies for more than 3,000 graduation candidates on May 4, 10 and 11. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University will welcome more than 3,000 students into its ranks of alumni as degree candidates are recognized at commencement ceremonies set for Saturday, May 4, at the Salina campus and Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11, at the Manhattan campus.
More details on the ceremonies — including parking, accommodations and live webcast information for the Manhattan campus ceremonies — are available on the K-State graduation website.
The class of 2024, the 157th from K-State, includes approximately 2,347 bachelor's degrees, 644 master's degrees, 92 doctorates and 118 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees. Of those students, about 140 will be earning multiple degrees.
The graduates-to-be also include 422 students who are earning their degrees through a K-State Online program. These students will be recognized in a virtual commencement ceremony.
Ceremonies kick off with K-State Salina's commencement at 10 a.m. on May 4 in the campus's Student Life Center. Joshua Wexler — a producer, visionary and entrepreneur who founded Pure Imagination, a full-service script-to-screen entertainment company — will be the speaker.
At the Manhattan campus, ceremonies begin on May 10 with K-State's Army and Air Force ROTC commissioning ceremonies, followed by commencements for the Graduate School and the College of Veterinary Medicine.
• The Air Force ROTC Detachment 270 ceremony will be commissioning 13 new 2nd Lieutenants at 8 a.m. in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union. The guest speaker will be Col. Shirley Black, USAF, retired.
• The Army ROTC Wildcat Battalion ceremony will be at 10:30 a.m. in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union. The commissioning officer and guest speaker will be U.S. Army Maj. Gen. John V. Meyer III, Fort Riley commanding general.
• The Graduate School commencement ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. in Bramlage Coliseum. The speaker is Tim Taylor, an accomplished chemical engineer who held several executive leadership positions for companies like Chevron Phillips and Phillips 66. Jon Rolph, chair of the Kansas Board of Regents, will represent the state's higher education authority at the ceremony.
• The College of Veterinary Medicine commencement ceremony will follow at 3:30 p.m., also in Bramlage Coliseum. Erin and Ben Schroeder, co-owners of a veterinarian practice in rural Nebraska, will be the speakers. Both are graduates of the College of Veterinary Medicine and currently star on the National Geographic show "Heartland Docs, DVM," about their rural practice.
The following is the schedule and speakers for Saturday, May 11:
• College of Arts and Sciences, 8:30 a.m., Bramlage Coliseum. Frank Tracz, K-State director of bands, will be the speaker. Under his direction, K-State's band ensembles have performed in venues around the world, and in 2015, the Kansas State University Marching Band earned the John Philip Sousa Foundation's Sudler Trophy, widely considered the highest honor in collegiate marching.
• College of Architecture, Planning & Design, 10 a.m., McCain Auditorium. The speaker is Clemente Jaquez, co-founder of MODUS architecture, a firm with a portfolio of projects in the health care, commercial and hospitality industries. As an architect, Jacquez has led various projects with an approach that touches on the excitement of the human experience.
• College of Education, 11 a.m., Bramlage Coliseum. Debbie K. Mercer, K-State's interim provost and executive vice president, will be the speaker. Mercer began her career as a teacher in a rural Kansas kindergarten classroom but quickly ascended through the faculty ranks at Fort Hays State University and K-State, where she has most recently served as dean of the College of Education.
• College of Business Administration, 12:30 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum. The speaker is Bill Keller, president of Stanion Wholesale Electric Co. since 1990. Keller also serves on the K-State Alumni Association board of directors, two advisory boards for K-State Athletics and the KSU Foundation board of trustees.
• College of Agriculture, 2:30 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum. Jerry L. Hatfield, retired director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture—Agriculture Research Service, will be the speaker. A Kansas native, Hatfield helped develop the research program of the National Soil Tilth Laboratory, which has since been renamed the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment.
• College of Health and Human Sciences, 4:30 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum. David C. Poole, university distinguished professor of kinesiology and director of the Cardiorespiratory Exercise Lab, is the speaker. Poole is a world-renowned cardiorespiratory researcher and is a leading expert on the body's use of oxygen during exercise.
• Carl R. Ice College of Engineering, 6:30 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum. The speaker is Gabriel "Gabe" Hernandez, vice president in the Transmission & Distribution Group, or T&D, at Burns & McDonnell. Hernandez has more than 28 years of experience in the electric transmission and distribution industry in design, project management and business development and also serves as the executive sponsor for T&D's international business ventures.
