{"id":10766,"date":"2022-12-09T09:06:45","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T15:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/?p=10766"},"modified":"2022-12-09T09:21:44","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T15:21:44","slug":"missouri-western-celebrates-winter-commencement-dec-17-rep-brenda-shields-to-speak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/09\/missouri-western-celebrates-winter-commencement-dec-17-rep-brenda-shields-to-speak\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri Western celebrates Winter Commencement Dec. 17; Rep. Brenda Shields to speak"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dec. 9, 2022–More than 270 graduates will be honored during Missouri Western State University\u2019s Winter Commencement Ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17 in the MWSU Fieldhouse in the M.O. Looney Complex. The public is invited. Doors open at 10:15 a.m.<\/span><\/p>\n

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State Rep. Brenda Shields<\/p><\/div>\n

The guest speaker for the ceremony will be State Rep. Brenda Shields. Recently elected to her third term in office, <\/span>Shields serves parts of Buchanan and Platte Counties in the Missouri House, representing District 11. She is chair of the House Committee on Higher Education and serves on the House Budget Committee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to serving in the legislature, she worked for the Quaker Oats Company in St. Joseph for more than 17 years, taught business education in the St. Joseph School District and served as the president and CEO of the United Way of Greater St. Joseph. Shields is a graduate of the University of Missouri \u2013 Columbia and lives in rural Buchanan County with her husband, Charlie.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Nyajuok Khan<\/p><\/div>\n

Also speaking at the ceremony will be graduating senior Nyajuok Khan. Khan will graduate with a\u00a0<\/span>Bachelor of Science in Psychology and will enter Missouri Western\u2019s Master of Applied Science in Forensic Investigations program next spring. The oldest of six children, Khan grew up in central Tennessee after her parents fled war-torn Sudan when she was four years old. She participated in the Step Team on campus and served on the YWCA board, and currently serves as a case manager at the St. Joseph Youth Alliance and teaches English Learners through the St. Joseph School District.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Missouri Western will confer 245 undergraduate and 33 graduate degrees this semester.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other public commencement-related activities include:<\/span><\/p>\n