Joplin, Mo. — Sixty-two Missouri Southern current and former student-athletes will receive a degree today as part of the Spring Commencement Ceremonies held at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on the campus of Missouri Southern. 
Two ceremonies will take place today with one beginning at 9:30 am and the other beginning at 1 pm. Both ceremonies will be streamed live on the MSSU website by going to this address http://www.mssu.edu/student-affairs/registrar/commencement-ceremony.php.
The football team leads the way with 16 current or former student-athletes walking across the stage today to pick up a diploma. The men’s and women’s basketball teams will graduate eight student-athletes today, while the baseball team will see six players walk.
The men’s and women’s track and field teams will have 14 student-athletes earn their diplomas, as well.
Each student-athlete will wear a specific athletics only chord that will signify they were a student-athlete at Missouri Southern.
The 66th graduating class will include 620 students receiving 789 undergraduate degrees, and an additional 13 receiving graduate degrees. Twenty-three students from 15 foreign countries will be among the graduates.
A ceremony for the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Health Sciences will be at 9:30 a.m. Students from the School of Business and the School of Education, as well as those receiving degrees in general studies and applied sciences will attend the 1 p.m. ceremony.
The keynote speaker will be David Haffner, the former chief executive officer and board chair for Leggett & Platt Inc.
KGCS-TV will provide live coverage of the ceremony, and will stream it on the university’s website. The station is available on local cable systems, including Cable One, Mediacom and Suddenlink. DVD copies will be available for purchase. For more information, contact Judy Stiles at 417-625-9777.