Drake University will hold its 157th commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 10 a.m. in the Knapp Center, located at 2525 Forest Avenue in Des Moines. The University will award approximately 225 degrees during the ceremony, honoring bachelor’s, master’s, and professional degree recipients.
Commencement speakers
Kenia Calderon Ceron, BN’17, MBA’24, will be the featured student speaker and will be earning her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at the ceremony. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurial management from Drake University in August 2017. Calderon Ceron currently serves as vice president and business development director at GreenState Credit Union and has been recognized with a number of awards, including Des Moines Register’s Person to Watch in 2025, Iowa International Center’s 2016 Passport to Prosperity, Credit Union Times’ 2017 Woman to Watch, Business Record’s Forty Under 40, and Credit Union Times’ 2022 Rising Star.
While an undergraduate student at Drake University, Calderon Ceron served as a student senator and president of La Fuerza Latina. The organization aims to foster dialogue, promote inclusivity, and empower Latino students at Drake University by hosting events, collaborating with community leaders, and volunteering to serve the Des Moines Latino community. She has put this experience into practice in her role at GreenState Credit Union, where she leads initiatives to improve the experience of bilingual credit union members.
Craige Wrenn, the University Marshal, will deliver the call to order. Wrenn is a Drake University professor and chair of the Pharmaceutical and Administrative Sciences department. Provost Sue Mattison will lead the ceremony alongside Craig Owens, the dean of John Dee Bright College and professor of English.
Key details
The ceremony is expected to last 75-90 minutes, and the University will stream the event at live.drake.edu. Free parking is available in campus lots during the ceremony. More information on December commencement, including directions to campus, can be found on the Registrar’s web page.