Northwestern College to award 435 degrees during May 9 commencement ceremony
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Northwestern College will award degrees to 435 students during its annual commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 9.
Master of Education degrees will be presented to 141 students, while 17 students will receive Master of Arts in counseling degrees. Five students earned Master of Business Administration degrees. Another 249 students will receive Bachelor of Arts degrees, and 23 Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees.
An additional five students will be presented with certificates of completion as graduates of the Northwestern NEXT program, a two-year campus life and learning experience for 18- to 22-year-olds with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Commencement will begin at 10 a.m. in the Rowenhorst Student Center. U.S. Representative Don Bacon, who has served Nebraska’s Second Congressional District since 2017 and is completing his final term in office, will give the commencement address. Bacon, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general, attended Northwestern College from 1980 to 1982.
The baccalaureate service will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 8, in Christ Chapel. Mark DeYounge, vice president for Christian formation, will deliver the homily.
Bacon studied political science at Northwestern College before completing his degree at Northern Illinois University. He began his military career in 1985, specializing in electronic warfare and intelligence, and served nearly 30 years on active duty in the Air Force. His leadership roles included assignments as a wing commander at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, as well as command positions at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. He also led combat missions over Iraq during a 2007–08 deployment. A graduate of the National War College, he completed 16 assignments and four deployments and earned two master’s degrees while in service.
Bacon serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Agriculture, where his work has focused on national defense, agricultural and rural policy, and support for military service members and their families. He has held key leadership roles, including chairing a bipartisan panel dedicated to improving quality of life for military personnel, and has been recognized nationally for his effectiveness and bipartisan leadership.
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