WKU to recognize Class of 2025 during Commencement on May 8

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Western Kentucky University will celebrate more than 3,300 graduates and recognize top scholars during 2025 Commencement on May 8 at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium.

WKU will confer 3,356 degrees and certificates to spring and summer 2025 graduates — 94 associate, 2,071 bachelor’s, 583 master’s, 50 doctoral, 15 specialist degrees, 431 undergraduate certificates and 112 graduate certificates.

Commencement will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Topper Walk along the Avenue of Champions from the Charles Hardcastle Kentucky Building to the stadium. The ceremony will begin once students have been seated on Feix Field. During the ceremony, each college will acknowledge its graduates, and President Timothy C. Caboni will present the graduates to the Board of Regents for the conferral of degrees.

The ceremony will include remarks from Caboni; recognition of honor graduates and award winners – Brett Phelps, who earned dual degrees in visual journalism and photography and strategic marketing and is from Bardstown, as the Ogden Foundation Scholar (top undergraduate award) and Uthman A. Rasaq, a December graduate from Saki, Oyo State, Nigeria, who earned his master’s degree in mathematics with a concentration in computational mathematics, as the John D. Minton Award recipient (top graduate award); and the commissioning of WKU ROTC cadets.

The ceremony will be broadcast by WKU PBS and will be streamed on WKU’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

The Commencement celebration will conclude with The Big Red Bash on the South Lawn, featuring music, food vendors and fireworks.

Commencement information is available online at https://www.wku.edu/commencement/.

College Recognition Ceremonies

On May 9 at Diddle Arena, WKU’s five academic colleges will host recognition ceremonies to celebrate the accomplishments of their graduates who will walk the line and shake hands with Caboni.

The ceremony schedule is: Gordon Ford College of Business, 8 a.m.; Potter College of Arts & Letters, 10:30 a.m.; Ogden College of Science and Engineering, 1 p.m.; College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, 3:30 p.m.; and College of Health and Human Services, 6:30 p.m.

WKU is expecting heavy traffic throughout the day. To accommodate traffic flow for graduates and guests, WKU Parking & Transportation is providing parking recommendations for each ceremony, including shuttle service to Diddle Arena, at https://www.wku.edu/commencement/directions.php as well as live updates at https://www.wku.edu/eventparking.

More: Event parking information; directions & parking; parking map.

Regional campus celebrations

WKU Regional Campuses will acknowledge their graduates during pre-Commencement events in Glasgow, Owensboro, Elizabethtown and Somerset before their members of the Class of 2025 come to Bowling Green to participate in Topper Walk, Commencement and College Recognition Ceremonies.

• WKU in Glasgow Graduand, 5 p.m. April 28 at TJ Pavilion Community Room, 310 N L Rogers Wells Blvd., Glasgow.
• WKU in Owensboro Graduate Celebration, 5 p.m. April 29 at Owensboro Community & Technical College, Humanities Building–Blandford Hall, 4800 New Hartford Road, Owensboro.
• WKU in Elizabethtown-Fort Knox: Celebrating You! Graduate Recognition, 5:30 p.m. ET April 30 at Regional Postsecondary Center Auditorium, Room 212, 600 College Street Road, Elizabethtown.
• WKU in Somerset Graduate Celebration, 5:30 p.m. ET May 5 at Somerset Community College, Hal Rogers Student Commons Community Room, 808 Monticello St., Somerset.

Gatton Academy graduation

The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science will recognize 83 students from 39 counties in the Class of 2025, its 18th graduating class. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. May 10 at Van Meter Hall.