To help kick off commencement weekend, a new graduation event has been created to offer graduating students and their families the opportunity to take photos and celebrate their time at Murray State.

The Racer Graduation Kickoff will be from 3 to 5 p.m. on May 12 before graduation ceremonies the following day. Assistant Registrar and Record Manager Wendy Longworth said they saw a need for an additional event to celebrate this milestone. 

“Commencement day is busy,” Longworth said. “With two ceremonies and over 9,000 people expected over the course of the day, getting that perfect photograph and finding all your friends and families can be a challenge.” 

Graduating students will have the opportunity to take photos on the CFSB Center’s stage with Racer One, the president’s podium and an assortment of University-oriented props. 

“We have some great photo staging opportunities available and hated the thought that our graduates weren’t able to easily take advantage of those opportunities,” Longworth said. “Our goal is to add new opportunities for our graduates and their families to celebrate their successes.”

Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Shawn Touney said he hopes this event will create a deeper connection to the University for graduating students. 

“This event provides a tremendous opportunity for our Office of Alumni Relations to personally congratulate our class of spring ‘23, to establish and deepen their relationships with our newest alumni as they join more than 80,000 alumni throughout the world,” Touney said.

The event will be open to both spring and summer graduates and their friends and family. 

It will take place in the CFSB Center upper and lower concourse. The entrance will be at Upper Concourse B.

Anyone interested in attending can RSVP at murraystate.edu/commencement/kickoff.aspx. 

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