K-State, Manhattan High graduations set for this weekend

Courtesy graphic

Courtesy graphic

MANHATTAN — Celebrations abound this weekend with commencement activities at Kansas State University and at Manhattan High School.

The Class of 2019 at K-State is the 152nd to graduate with more than 3,250 students candidates for degrees. Manhattan High School’s graduation is taking place at 2 p.m. Sunday in Bramlage Coliseum. Approximately 396 students will be graduating. This is the 105th MHS graduation ceremony.

Graduate degrees are being awarded Friday on the K-State campus, starting at 1 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum. College of Veterinary Medicine graduates will receive degrees at 3:30 p.m. in McCain Auditorium. Mark Hutton of Wichita, a member of the Kansas Board of Regents will represent the Board at both ceremonies.

All undergraduate ceremonies will take place Saturday on the Manhattan campus. The full schedule and list of speakers is as follows:

• The College of Arts and Sciences, 8:30 a.m., Bramlage Coliseum. Alumna Michelle Munson will be the commencement speaker. Munson, who earned a Goldwater Scholarship while an undergraduate at Kansas State University, is the co-founder and CEO of Eluvio, a software startup.

• College of Architecture, Planning & Design, 10 a.m., McCain Auditorium. Bill Snyder, the winningest coach in Kansas State football history and member of the College Football Hall of Fame, will be the speaker. Snyder, who retired in December 2018, led the Wildcats to two Big 12 championships and was a five-time national coach of the year and seven-time Big 12 coach of the year.

• College of Education, 11 a.m., Bramlage Coliseum. Joe Hubener, social studies teacher at Clearwater High School, will be the speaker. Hubener, a 2015 Kansas State University alumnus, is a recipient of a 2019 Horizon Award, which is the Kansas State Department of Education’s highest recognition program for exemplary first-year teachers. He also is a former quarterback of the university’s football team.

• College of Business Administration, 12:30 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum. Charlie Morrison, chairman and CEO of Wingstop Inc., will be the speaker. A Kansas State University alumnus, Morrison joined Wingstop in 2012 and has led its expansion from around 500 restaurants to more than 1,200 restaurants across the U.S. and in nine countries.

• College of Agriculture, 2:30 p.m., Brmalage Coliseum. Rick Malir, founder and CEO of City Barbeque, will be the speaker at commencement A Kansas State University alumnus, Malir started City Barbecue 20 years ago and now has restaurants in seven states and more than 1,400 team members.

• College of Human Ecology, 4:30 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum. Venki Chandrashekar, general manager of specialty chemicals for ChevronPhillips Chemical Company LP, will be the speaker. A Kansas State University alumnus, Chandrashekar oversees all commercial aspects and profit and loss responsibilities of the global company with teams in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

• Carl R. Ice College of Engineering, 6:30 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum. Wayne Harms, retired vice president of ExxonMobil, will be the speaker. Harms joined ExxonMobil after graduating from Kansas State University with a chemical engineering degree. His 30-year career with the company included stops across the U.S. and in Hong Kong and Qatar.

Commissioning ceremonies for the university’s graduating Air Force and Army ROTC cadets will both be Friday in the K-State Student Union. The Army ROTC ceremony will be at 10 a.m. in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union and the Air Force ROTC ceremony will be at 11 a.m. in the Main Ballroom at the Union.