This is finals week at Chadron State College as the school returns to in-person commencement exercises this Saturday for the first time since December 2019.
CSC hosted virtual events due to COVID-19 the past two semesters.
Lingering pandemic rules have changed up the graduation schedule. Instead of graduate degrees being presented at 8:00 in Memorial Hall, they will be handed out at 9:00 in the Chicoine Center.
The undergraduate ceremonies remain in Chicoine, but move from 10:00 in the morning to 1:00 in the afternoon.
All guests must have a ticket and all participants and attendees must follow COVID-19 guidelines. Public seating is available at Beebe Stadium with graduation broadcast on the videoboard. Both ceremonies will also be streamed.
The master’s degree ceremonies will have 14 students who completed their degrees last year join this year’s 81 recipients.
The speaker is CSC Business Professor Dr Rick Koza, who is retiring this year. Savanah Silbaugh and Andrew Johnson will deliver the opening and closing moments of reflection, respectively.
Joining the 197 students receiving bachelor’s degrees will be 24 from last year. Addressing the graduates will be Dr Merlin Butler, Director of Clinical Research and Genetics and the University of Kansas Medical Center.
The undergraduate ceremony’s opening moment of reflection will be given by Emily Hansen of Hemingford with Army ROTC cadet Konnery Klueber of Rapid City offering the closing moment of reflection.
Klueber and 3 other ROTC cadets will be receiving their commissions during the 1:00 ceremonies: Calvin DePriest of Omaha, Kalli Talbot of Rapid City, and Colton Alexander of Bridgeport..