May 4—The Free Press

MANKATO — Area residents should expect some extra activity on streets and in restaurants around Minnesota State University starting Friday afternoon and continuing through Saturday.

Thousands of parents, siblings, friends and relatives will be descending on Mankato to witness approximately 1,750 MSU students accept their diplomas in five spring commencement ceremonies in Taylor Center's Bresnan Arena.

The pomp and circumstance will begin at 3 p.m. Friday for graduates of the College of Business and at 6 p.m. for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

On Saturday, commencement ceremonies resume at 9 a.m. for the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, with the College of Education following at noon and the College of Allied Health and Nursing serving as the finale at 3 p.m.

Most of the people wearing caps and gowns will be receiving bachelor's degrees, but candidates for graduate degrees will also be graduating with the college of their affiliation.

Tickets are not required and there are no restrictions on the number of guests each graduate can invite. For people unable to attend, live-streaming services will be provided for each ceremony.

Two members of the Board of Trustees for the state university system — Jim Grabowska and Tim Huebsch — will be splitting the duty of greeting graduates at the various ceremonies. MSU President Edward Inch will be handing out all of the diplomas.

More information, including a link to the live-streams, can be found at http://www.mnsu.edu/commencement.

With 14,482 students, Minnesota State is the largest school among the 26 colleges and seven universities in the state college system.