The House of Hanover Class of 2015 is preparing to walk across the stage at 1 p.m. on May 17 in the Collins Center.

The traditions walk, a timeless ritual at Baker, will bring the class of 2015 through their new gate for the first time. They will then make their way around campus and back to Collins Center led by bagpipers before passing through lines of faculty on their way to their seats.

Prior to the actual walk across the stage to get their diplomas, the graduates will hear from this year’s speaker, Aaron North, who is the vice president of education at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The Kauffman Foundation is based in Kansas City, Missouri, and is among the largest private foundations in the United States. The foundation helps with financing students going to college who have proven that they meet the standards of the mission of the Kauffman Foundation.

There is a lot of consideration in choosing a commencement speaker, according to Senior Director of University Relations Cheryl McCrary. “[North] just fit this class so well, and it was so relevant that the choice was clear,” McCrary said.

Senior Kaleb Berry is Baker’s first Kauffman Scholar graduate, so having someone from the Kauffman Foundation speak is special to him. Although Berry is the first, McCrary said there are several Kauffman Scholars in the other classes currently at Baker.

The time for the actual walk across the stage to receive diplomas will come at the conclusion of the speeches. During this time, faculty members whose children attend Baker have the opportunity to hand their son or daughter his or her diploma.

This year, McCrary is lucky enough to hand her daughter, Kaylin McCrary, her diploma.

“I’m excited to be a part of it, knowing what she’s gone through to get it,” Cheryl McCrary said.

As is tradition, once the ceremony is completed, the graduates will walk across the street to the Sixth Street hill where they take pictures. Cheryl McCrary, who is a Baker alumna, said she still remembers walking to the hill and getting pictures with her professors and her advisor.

“It’s something you will always remember,” she said.

For anyone who is unable to attend on Sunday, graduation will be live-streamed. A link can be found on the Baker website.