Northwestern will host Graduation Weekend ceremonies May 8–10. We are eager to celebrate the accomplishments of our students and their families and supporters.
For further details about travel and logistics, as well as a graduation application, please see the links below. The majority of events will be livestreamed, so those who cannot attend in person will still be able to participate.
Commencement ceremonies for students in Northwestern's Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies (MSPAS) program will be held on Saturday, Aug. 9.
Video archives
Schedule of Events
THURSDAY, MAY 8
NURSING PINNING CEREMONY
6:30 p.m., Christ Chapel (Doors open at 6 p.m.)
Northwestern’s nursing graduates and their families are invited to a traditional rite of passage that serves as a symbolic welcoming of the students into the nursing profession. Each student nurse is presented with a Northwestern College nursing pin, after which the graduates recite the college’s “Christian Commitment to Nursing” pledge. A reception for the graduates and all guests follows the ceremony.
Watch livestream
FRIDAY, MAY 9
SENIOR HONORS LUNCHEON
12:15 p.m., Vermeer Dining Room (By invitation. Doors open at noon.)
Northwestern’s Senior Honors Luncheon is designed to celebrate students who have been selected for departmental honors and/or who have successfully completed the Northwestern Honors Program. Students who will be honored at this event will be notified in April. Family members of these seniors are invited as well.BACCALAUREATE
7:30 p.m., Christ Chapel (Doors open at 6:45 p.m.)
Northwestern’s on-campus graduating seniors and their families are invited to baccalaureate, a worship celebration during which the students say their final goodbye to their college worship home. The service includes stories, images, a commissioning message and songs—and concludes with a special blessing and moving candle-lighting ceremony.
Watch livestream
SATURDAY, MAY 10
SENIOR BREAKFAST
7:30 to 9 a.m., DeWitt Center Cafeteria
On-campus graduating seniors and their family members are invited to have breakfast with President Greg and Michelle Christy prior to commencement. This is a come-and-go breakfast, free of charge, with no R.S.V.P. required.COMMENCEMENT
10 a.m., Rowenhorst Student Center (Doors open at 9:15 a.m. Tickets are not required, and there is no limit to the number of guests a graduate may bring.)
Commencement is a celebration of the academic accomplishments of Northwestern’s graduates. The traditional ceremony of pomp and circumstance features faculty in full regalia, inspirational words from this year’s commencement speaker, and the presentation of top undergraduate student and faculty awards—culminating in the hooding of Northwestern’s Master of Education and Master of Arts in counseling students and the conferring of degrees upon all graduates.
Watch livestream
SATURDAY, AUGUST 9
PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT COMMENCEMENT
10 a.m., Christ Chapel
Northwestern will award graduate degrees to students who have completed the college's Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies (MSPAS) program. More information for graduating students and their families will be available in the spring of 2025.
Watch livestream
Additional Information
SATURDAY, MAY 10
8:30 to 9 a.m., The Hub, Rowenhorst Student Center
The Graduate School & Adult Learning hosts this event for all online program students—master's degree and bachelor's degree—to formally present them with their academic regalia (caps & gowns/hoods) and to provide them with an opportunity to meet each other and their enrollment counselors face-to-face. Students need to be present to line up for commencement at 9 a.m.
Graduation Weekend guests attending events in Christ Chapel may park in the lots north of the DeWitt Learning Commons, Christ Chapel, and the DeWitt Music Hall (buildings No. 7, 9 and 10 on the campus map)—as well as in parking spots along Albany Avenue. Handicapped parking is available near the circle drive between Christ Chapel and the DeWitt Learning Commons and in the lot north of the DeWitt Music Hall.
Parking for Commencement, which takes place in the Rowenhorst Student Center, is available in the lots on the south side of Highway 10, across the street from Zwemer Hall (building No. 12 on the campus map) and east of the Bultman Center (building No. 27). The lot in front of the Rowenhorst Student Center (building No. 29) will be used exclusively for those needing handicapped parking, and there will be handicapped parking spots directly in front of the Bultman Center's main entrance.
There is also a gravel parking lot east of the Juffer Athletic Fieldhouse (building No. 30 on the campus map). Guests using that lot should use the main/north entrance of the Juffer Fieldhouse, which is connected to the Rowenhorst Student Center.
Northwestern will livestream the Nursing Pinning Ceremony, Baccalaureate and Commencement. Use the following link to watch these Commencement Weekend events live. Recordings of each event will also be available at the following link for up to six months:
Northwestern utilizes Ceremony Photos to take photos during commencement and of graduates as they receive their degrees. Photos are available for purchase following commencement. Ceremony Photos will email graduates with more information when it is available.
Applications to graduate in May 2025 are due December 1. If you think you are eligible to graduate after Spring Term or Summer Term of 2025 and you have not already submitted your graduation application, please do so by that deadline.
