Kinesiology, Recreation & Sport

Western Kentucky University will celebrate more than 3,300 graduates and recognize top scholars during 2026 Commencement on May 7 at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium.

WKU will confer 3,346 degrees and certificates to spring and summer 2026 graduates -- 98 associate, 1,988 bachelor’s, 563 master’s, 50 doctoral, 11 specialist degrees, 516 undergraduate certificates and 120 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 all 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 President Caboni; recognition of honor graduates and award winners – Chaise Bethmann, an economics major from Thompson’s Station, Tenn., as the Ogden Foundation Scholar (top undergraduate award) and Zoe Brown, a mathematics graduate student from London, 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.

For the full schedule of events, click the link below:

https://www.wku.edu/news/articles/index.php?view=article&articleid=13066