Texas A&M’s campuses will bid farewell to its graduating seniors in the next few weeks as they walk the stage and step into their roles as former students.
The events will begin Thursday with a Commencement Convocation in Rudder Auditorium and will continue with 15 graduation ceremonies until May 29.
Student Body President Kyle Kelly will give the invocation at Thursday’s commencement and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples will serve as keynote speaker. Staples, Class of 1984, served in the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives before becoming Agriculture Commissioner, where he is currently serving his second term.
2013-2014 Student Body President Reid Joseph said while the graduation ceremony may mark the closing of a student’s time on campus, every Aggie will always carry a part of A&M with them.
“[Graduation is] significant in the fact that we are becoming former students, and we’re not leaving A&M because we will always be able to come back,” Joseph said. “We’re taking the A&M family crest, the Aggie Ring, with us wherever we go. We’re taking A&M with us.”