Wartburg College will recognize 355 graduates from the Class of 2016 during its 164rd Spring Commencement ceremonies Sunday, May 22.

Commencement will begin at 1:30 pm. in Hoover Fieldhouse & Track in the Wartburg-Waverly Sports & Wellness Center. It is free and open to the community.

The May and August graduates include 26 international students from 13 different countries; eighteen states also will be represented. Thirty-five members of the Class of 2016 graduated in December.

Wartburg President Darrel Colson will give the charge to the class. The student speaker will be Ashley Lahti, a neuroscience major from Turtle Lake, Wis., and a Dean’s Honor Cord recipient with one of the top 40 cumulative GPAs in her class. The lacrosse captain is president and founder of the Bringing/Raising Awareness in Neuroscience (BRAiNS) Club, vice president of Adopt-A-Grandparent and treasurer of the college’s Habitat for Humanity organization as well a member of the Phi Eta Sigma, Alpha Chi and Nu Rho Psi honor societies. She also completed a summer internship at Craig Hospital in Denver, Colo., through Wartburg West, the college’s urban studies program.

Steven Huegel, a social studies teacher at Maquoketa Valley High School, and Matthew Molumby, who teaches 7-12 English and language arts classes at West Central Community School, will be honored as outstanding high school teachers. Members of the Class of 2016 nominated them for significantly influencing their education.

The academic procession, led by faculty marshals Todd Reiher, professor of psychology, and Ann Henninger, professor of biology, will begin the Commencement ceremony.

International students bearing the flags of their countries, emeriti faculty, current faculty members, members of the Class of 1966, the graduating class and platform party will join the procession.

Commencement Weekend events that are free and open to the public include:
  • Senior Art Exhibit — 9 a.m.-7 p.m., daily, Waldemar A. Schmidt Art Gallery, Bachman Fine Arts Center.
  • May Term Band Concert — Saturday, May 21, 6:30 p.m., South Campus Mall (rain site is McCaskey Lyceum).
  • Baccalaureate — The Rev. Brian Beckstrom, campus pastor, will deliver the message, Sunday, May 22, 10 a.m., Neumann Auditorium.
  • Pre-Commencement Concert — Wind Ensemble, Sunday, May 24, 1 p.m., Hoover Fieldhouse & Track.