May 2023 Kansas City Area Commencement
Saturday, May 6, 2023, 10 a.m.
Cable Dahmer Arena
19100 E. Valley View Parkway
Independence, MO 64055
Commencement Program
Commencement Ceremony Livestreamed Broadcast
For those unable to attend in-person, the ceremony will be livestreamed at ParkUMedia.com.
Keynote Speaker
Cliff Illig, principal owner of Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City franchise and retired co-founder of Cerner Corp., will present the keynote address. The event will include 705 Park University students eligible to participate in the ceremony — 218 students are set to receive a master’s degree and/or graduate certificate, and 487 students are scheduled to receive a bachelor’s degree, associate degree and/or undergraduate certificate.
Read more about Illig at park.edu/news/kca-commencement-2023.
Past Commencement Ceremonies
Josh Rowland, Ph.D., J.D., provided the keynote address. Rowland is the chief executive officer and vice chairman of Lead Bank, a community-minded, independent commercial bank headquartered in Kansas City, Mo.
Adelaida Severson, Ph.D., the president and chief executive officer of Bushtex Inc., an international satellite communications firm based in Gilbert, Ariz., presented the December 2021 Commencement keynote address.
Vince Clark, vice president of business development and chief corporate affairs officer at Creative Planning LLC, an independent financial advisory firm in Overland Park, Kan., presented the keynote address for the May 2021 Commencement, held virtually on May 8.
- May 2021 Commencement Program (PDF)
- May 2021 Commencement Program (ISSUU)
- May 2021 Commencement Ceremony Video
NOTE: The program only includes the names of graduates who selected to participate in the virtual commencement program.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Park University hosted a virtual all-University commencement ceremony for May and December 2020 graduates from across the country on December 12, in collaboration with graduation technology partners StageClip and MarchingOrder.
The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Anthony Melchiorri, a 1990 Park graduate and U.S. military veteran, and the host, co-creator and co-executive producer of Travel Channel’s “Hotel Impossible” series of shows.