College of Menominee Nation celebrates one of its largest graduating classes

The College of Menominee Nation closed commencement week with one of its largest graduating classes yet, filling the Five Clans Ballroom at Menominee Casino Resort for a 10 a.m. ceremony on Friday, May 15. The college said the celebration depended on staff, faculty and students working together, and it thanked the campus community for helping graduates walk the stage and receive their diplomas.

Graduates were asked to arrive by 8:30 a.m., gather for a class photo at 9 a.m. and line up at 9:30 a.m. CMN said the ceremony was more than a capstone for the Class of 2026. It was also part of the college’s larger mission of keeping higher education rooted in Menominee culture, community and place. The Menominee Casino Resort conference center has become a regular graduation site for CMN, which also held commencements there in 2024 and 2025.

Commencement week stretched beyond the stage. CMN’s 5th annual High School Recognition Event was held on May 13, followed by the President’s Breakfast and commencement rehearsal on May 14. At the recognition event, Paemapomeh, also known as Richard Oshkeshequoam, offered the invocation and prayer. The Wolf River Singers performed, Lloyd Frieson and CFO George Otradovec made remarks, and Sydney Mitchell served as student speaker. The program tied the college’s graduation week to the next wave of students moving through local schools and into higher education.

The college frames that pipeline as part of a broader institutional story. CMN says it was chartered by the Menominee People in 1993, began offering general education classes on the Menominee Reservation on Jan. 19, 1993, to 42 tribal members, and was chartered on March 4, 1993, a date it observes as Charter Day. The college also says it maintains accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission and describes itself as a land-grant institution that infuses learning with American Indian culture.

CMN’s campus sits on the border of the 235,000-acre Menominee Forest, a setting the college often uses to connect education with land stewardship and tribal identity. With the Class of 2026 celebrated and announcements for the 2026-2027 school year next, the college turned a single graduation into a clear marker of continuity in Menominee County.