Baker University will grant degrees to more than 700 graduates with three commencement ceremonies Dec. 17-18 at Collins Center.
The School of Professional and Graduate Studies’s graduate degree ceremony will be at 1 p.m. Dec. 17 with 227 candidates receiving master’s degrees.
Susan Lindahl, executive vice president of administrative services and chief operating officer, will deliver the commencement address for the ceremony.
The Baker School of Education will graduate 152 students at the graduate degree ceremony at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 17.
There are 334 candidates for degrees at the undergraduate degree ceremony for the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Professional Graduate Studies, School of Nursing and School of Education.
This ceremony will be at 1 p.m. Dec. 18.
The keynote speaker for the undergraduate degree ceremony will be Dan Harris, a former coach and administrator at Baker. Harris was the athletic director for Baker from 1995-2009 and is a member of the NAIA and Baker University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Seniors Russell Hahs and Aubree Gustin are two of the 334 students graduating Sunday.
“I’ve considered wearing my pajamas to graduation, or just my boxers and cap and gown,” Hahs said. “But I figure it might be a little chilly in the gym.”
Hahs, who has been a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity and the track and field team during his time at Baker, will be moving forward with his education after graduation.
“My plans for after graduation are to enter the School of Engineering at the University of Kansas and pursue a degree in mechanical engineering,” Hahs said. “And then hopefully get a job in the Kansas City area.”
Hahs will have completed his undergraduate degree in three and half years.
“I’m graduating early because I don’t need any more classes,” Hahs said. “But I decided that I wasn’t ready to enter the real world, so now I’m going engineering school.”
Rather than going to graduate school, Gustin hopes to find a job after graduation.
“I think I’m going to substitute teach for the second semester, and during that time, hopefully try and find a teaching job,” Gustin said. “Education is such a hard career to find a job in, but they tell us as long as you get your foot in the door, you should be ok.”
Gustin took four and a half years to finish her degree.
“I did that purposefully because I wanted to be able to spend time focusing on track and basketball while I was at Baker,” Gustin said. “But I’m ready to be out of here. Four and a half years is too long.”
