Commencement season begins Friday with Haskell, Lawrence, KU ceremonies

Haskell Indian Nations University will open Douglass County’s commencement season Friday with its Class of 2026 ceremony at 10 a.m. in Coffin Complex, where Victoria “Tori” Kitcheyan is set to speak and William “Billy” Kirkland, the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, will deliver a special address. The program also names Haskell President Dr. Alex Red Corn, Haskell Brave 2025-26 Rickson Bullcalf and Miss Haskell 2025-26 Angelina Giago, along with a memorial tribute to Dr. Michael Tosee, giving the ceremony a mix of celebration, leadership and remembrance.

The gathering carries extra weight in Lawrence because Haskell’s roots reach back to 1884, when 22 American Indian students entered the United States Indian Industrial Training School, the institution that would become Haskell Indian Nations University. That history makes Friday’s ceremony more than a campus milestone; it is another chapter in one of the city’s most enduring educational institutions, and one that continues to shape the civic life of western Lawrence.

Lawrence Public Schools follows with a packed calendar that begins Friday, May 15, at Community Connections at Pinckney. C-Tran graduates at 9 a.m., followed by Project SEARCH at 10:30 a.m., before Lawrence Virtual School graduates at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at Lawrence Free State High School. Free State High School will then hold its ceremony at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, at Allen Fieldhouse, while Lawrence High School graduates at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, at Lawrence High School Stadium. Those five ceremonies, spread across six days and four locations, will keep school parking lots, arena lots and neighborhood streets busy across the city.

The University of Kansas adds another layer to the season Sunday, May 17, at 10:30 a.m. with its universitywide Commencement at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. KU says graduates from summer and fall 2026 may still take part in the 2026 ceremony, with their names listed in the 2027 Commencement book. The university’s most treasured tradition, the ceremonial walk down Mount Oread through the Campanile, will again frame the morning, though graduate names are not read at the stadium ceremony and are instead recognized at school or departmental events. KU’s School of Engineering recognition ceremony is set for 8 a.m. Saturday, May 16, at Allen Fieldhouse.

With Haskell, USD 497 and KU all marking the end of the school year over roughly two weeks, Mid-May becomes one of Lawrence’s busiest civic stretches, led by the students, families and faculty who fill the city’s biggest venues.