Wayland Baptist University will celebrate its Spring 2026 commencement ceremony at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 16, in Hutcherson Center on the university’s Plainview campus.
The ceremony is open to the public and will also be livestreamed on Wayland’s YouTube channel.
A total of 114 graduates are expected to participate in commencement exercises representing a broad cross-section of academic programs, states and countries.
Candidates for graduation include three doctoral students, 28 master’s students, 81 bachelor’s students and two associate degree students.
The graduating class includes students from 16 countries and 16 U.S. states in addition to Texas and Washington, D.C. International graduates make up approximately 24 percent of the class, with 28 graduates representing countries including India, Colombia, Brazil, Canada, England, Germany and Ukraine. India leads all international countries represented with five graduates.
Sixty-four graduates are from Texas, including nine from Plainview, seven from Lubbock and five from Amarillo.
Donna Hedgepath, president of Wayland Baptist University, will preside over the ceremony and confer degrees after candidates are presented by Dr. David Bishop, vice president of external campuses.
Attorney and university trustee Noe Valles of Lubbock will deliver the commencement address. A first-generation college student and 1988 Wayland graduate, Valles serves as senior partner at Glasheen, Valles & Inderman, LLP.
John Wesley Bray III, a graduating senior from Frisco, will present the student address. Trinity Renee Davis, a graduating senior from Midlothian, will read scripture, and Ashley Ortiz Montoya, a graduating senior from Chihuahua, Mexico, will deliver the benediction.
Other ceremony participants include Carole Harbison, secretary of Wayland’s Board of Trustees; Annalicia Hernandez, president of the Student Government Association; Jeffrey Vera, director of alumni relations and career services; Julie Bowen, university registrar and executive director of academic records; and Dr. Joshua Mora, professor of Spanish.
Musical selections will include “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” directed by Stephanie Burton, interim director of choral studies, along with performances of Wayland’s alma mater and “No Small Dreams,” the university’s centennial anthem.
Wayland Baptist University exists to educate students in an academically challenging, learning-focused, and distinctively Christian environment for professional success and service to God and humankind. Established in 1908 by pioneer physician Dr. James Henry Wayland, the university is the oldest institution of higher education in continuous existence on the High Plains of Texas and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
In addition to the home campus in Plainview, Texas, Wayland operates campuses in Lubbock, Amarillo, Wichita Falls and San Antonio, Texas; Phoenix and Sierra Vista, Ariz.; and Mililani, Hawaii. The university also offers full degree programs online, as well as a nursing program through Wayland’s San Antonio campus.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Wayland Baptist University hosting commencement ceremony in Plainview
Reporting by Special for the Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
