MoWest honors graduates with two ceremonies May 9

May 7, 2026-Missouri Western State University will honor more than 400 graduates at Spring Commencement Ceremonies on Saturday, May 9 in the MWSU Fieldhouse in the M.O. Looney Complex. At 11 a.m., graduates from the College of Science and Health will receive their degrees. Graduates from the Division of Academic Affairs, College of Business and Professional Studies, and College of Liberal Arts will participate in the 3 p.m. ceremony. Both ceremonies will be live streamed on the MIAA Network, themiaanetwork.com/mwsugriffons/.

A total of 326 undergraduate students and 86 graduate students have completed their degree requirements this semester. They hail from 24 states and three foreign countries.

The featured speaker at both commencement ceremonies will be Leslie McMillin, a 2000 graduate of MoWest. McMillin is currently Director, Payments Specialist in Agribusiness at FNBO in Kansas City.

Graduating students will also speak at both ceremonies. The 11 a.m. speaker will be Dein Gentry, a musical arts major from Springfield, Missouri. The 3 p.m. speaker will be Allaina Mace, a psychology major from St. Joseph.

A brief reception will follow the ceremony in the Looney practice gym, sponsored by the Missouri Western Alumni Association.

In addition to the commencement ceremonies, graduates in two health care professions will participate in pinning ceremonies where they will receive pins symbolic of their training and new careers:

Respiratory Therapy Pinning Ceremony

8 a.m. Saturday, May 9, Kemper Recital Hall, Spratt Hall room 101

Nursing Pinning Ceremony

8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 9, Fulkerson Center

Missouri Western State University is a student-centered learning community preparing individuals for lives of excellence through applied learning. MoWest 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.