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Commencement 2024

The 77th Commencement Ceremony of Bethel University is now scheduled!

Join us on Saturday, May 4, 2024, for the ceremony at 2 p.m. in the Wiekamp Athletic Center. There will be one combined ceremony this year. All events will be live-streamed from our main page (BethelUniversity.edu).

graduation

About Our Speaker

Alumnus Blessing ‘Yemi’ Mobolade, mayor of Colorado Springs, Colo., will be the speaker for this year’s commencement ceremony.

Read More About Blessing ‘Yemi’ Mobolade

Blessing ‘Yemi’ Mobolade is a 2001 graduate of Bethel University. He is the first Black man and immigrant to be elected mayor of Colorado Springs and one of the youngest. He was sworn in as the 42nd Mayor of Colorado Springs on June 6, 2023.

Mobolade was born in Nigeria to two bi-vocational pastors. His father was in finance and his mother was a secondary education teacher. At age 17, he immigrated to the United States, following in the footsteps of his brother to pursue the American Dream through education. He has bachelor’s degrees in business administration and computer information systems from Bethel University and master’s degrees in management and leadership from Indiana Wesleyan University (Marion, Ind.) and theology-intellectual leadership from the A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary, part of Simpson University (Redding, Calif.).

Mobolade moved from Indiana to Colorado Springs in 2010, where he started a church as part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. After identifying a need in downtown Colorado Springs for cultural gathering places, he became one of the first entrepreneurs to invest in downtown after the Great Recession when he co-founded The Wild Goose Meeting House in 2013.

Seeing a greater need for collaboration within the faith community, Mobolade began working as director of outreach and engagement at First Presbyterian Church, where he would go on to co-found COSILoveYou, a nonprofit that unites more than 100 area churches under the common mission of serving the Colorado Springs community.
In 2017, Mobolade co-founded Good Neighbors Meeting House in the Patty Jewett neighborhood to provide an additional gathering place in the downtown area. He also began to leverage his success as an entrepreneur and business owner and began working as the vice president of business retention and expansion at the Colorado Springs Chamber & Economic Development Corporation. There he was instrumental in caring for local employers and attracting new companies during a period of record job growth for Colorado Springs.

In 2019, Mobolade served the City of Colorado Springs as a small business development administrator. In this role, he established tools to assist entrepreneurs with starting a business, COSOpenForBiz.com and Permit Partner, and led many collaborative efforts across the community’s public and private sectors. Mobolade stepped down from this position in March 2022 to officially launch his mayoral campaign.

He lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Abbey, a nurse and nursing educator, and their three young children.

Navigating Graduation

Graduating with Honors

Graduates receiving a bachelor’s degree wit ha cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or greater, and have earned at least 45 credit hours at Bethel, will be awarded the following academic distinction:

  • Cum Laude – GPA of 3.5
  • Magna Cume Laude – GPA of 3.75
  • Summa Cume Laude – GPA of 3.9

Tickets

The Saturday, May 4, 2024, commencement ceremony is a ticketed event. Tickets will be required to attend the ceremony. Each graduate will be given 6 guest tickets. No additional tickets will be available due to venue capacity.

Tickets for the Commencement Ceremony are available to be picked up in the Campus Store.

The ceremony will be live-streamed on our main page for those unable to attend in person. Guests may also view the ceremony from Sufficient Grounds and the Campus Store.

Seating

General Seating

We suggest guests arrive about 1 hour prior to the ceremony start time when doors will be open. Ushers can assist with moving chairs for wheelchairs, walkers, etc.

Special arrangements needed?

Please contact Kelly Amstutz at Kelly.Amstutz@BethelUniversity.edu if there is an injury or disability that will require special accomodations at commencement.

On-Campus Streaming

Seating is also available in Sufficient Grounds Coffee House and Campus Store, where the ceremony will be shown via livestream.

Seating Questions

Please contact Kelly Amstutz with specific questions via email at Kelly.Amstutz@BethelUniversity.edu or by calling 574.807.7190.

Rehearsal

Rehearsal will begin one hour before the ceremony the day of commencement in the Everest-Rohrer Auditorium. Students must be there promptly to prepare for the ceremony. This year there is only one ceremony for all Traditional, Adult and Graduate Studies graduates.

  • May 4 Nurse Pinning:
    Rehearsal begins at 9:30 a.m. with the Ceremony at 10 a.m.
    Those with speaking or singing parts are asked to arrive by 9 a.m. for a sound check.
  • May 4 Commencement:
    Rehearsal begins at 1 p.m. with the Ceremony at 2 p.m.

In the event of bad weather, rehearsal will be in Goodman Gymnasium. Signs will be posted directing graduates to Goodman, if necessary.

Nurse Pinning

Event Details

The Nurse Pinning service will be on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at 9 a.m., in the Everest-Rohrer auditorium.

Nurse Pinning Rehearsal

There will be a mandatory rehearsal for pinning at 8:30 a.m., in the Everest-Rohrer auditorium. Those with speaking or singing parts are asked to arrive by 8 a.m. for a sound check.

Guests

There is no limit to the number of guests that may attend the pinning ceremony for each graduate. The pinning program will also be livestreamed.

Questions about Nursing Pinning

If you have questions, feel free to contact Jill Lyon (Jill.Lyon@BethelUniversity.edu) or Tina Kendall (Tina.Kendall@BethelUniversity.edu).

Campus Store Hours

The Campus Store will be open starting at 9 a.m. on the day of Commencement. The store will have an extensive inventory of Bethel apparel as well as very attractive diploma frames with mat.

More Details

Details for Graduates & Their Families

Additional Questions?

If you have other questions about our commencement ceremony or other graduation events, please contact Kelly Amstutz at Kelly.Amstutz@BethelUniversity.edu.

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