MONMOUTH, ILLINOIS (May 8, 2023) — Featuring an address by former US Representative Richard A Gephardt, Monmouth College will hold its 166th annual Commencement Exercises on Sunday, May 14.
Gephardt will deliver the Commencement address to about 185 members of the Class of 2023 at noon on the Wallace Hall Plaza, weather permitting. The rain site will be the Huff Athletic Center.
At 2PM, Saturday, May 13, the Rev Dr John Huxtable ('04), who took over as chaplain at his alma mater at the beginning of the year, will present the Baccalaureate sermon in Dahl Chapel.
Gephardt, who served for 28 years in the House of Representatives, is president and CEO of Gephardt Group. He will also receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from the College.
"Monmouth College is honored to have former Rep Richard Gephardt as our 2023 Commencement speaker," said Monmouth President Clarence R Wyatt. "Throughout his career, Rep Gephardt exemplified a focus on finding practical means to seize opportunities to make our nation stronger, guided by a spirit of cooperation and civility. We look forward to his message on this important day."
A St Louis native, Gephardt's distinguished 28-year career in Congress was marked by his work on health-care, pensions, education, energy independence, and trade.
Gephardt served as House Democratic Leader for more than fourteen years, as House majority leader from 1989-95 and minority leader from 1995-2003. He twice ran for president, in 1988 and 2004.
In addition to Gephardt, Addison Cox ('23) of Morton, Illinois, will also address the graduating class. Last fall, Cox was named Monmouth College's recipient of the Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Award, thereby becoming a Student Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois.
Huxtable previously served the First Christian Church in Virden, Illinois, for eighteen years. Not counting the recent one-year stint of interim chaplain Brandon Ouellette ('14), he is the first Monmouth alum to have the full-time chaplain role since the late Paul McClanahan, who retired in 1979.
Other events on Saturday, May 13, include the Honor Walk at 3:30 p.m. and the Senior Send-Off at 8PM. For the latter event, the graduates will gather at April Zorn Memorial Stadium, where the Alumni and Development Office will welcome them to the Monmouth Alumni Association. A ceremony there will include a congratulatory toast and conclude with fireworks.
The Commencement and Baccalaureate ceremonies, as well as the Honor Walk and Senior Send-Off, will be streamed on the College's social media platforms.
