Office of Public Relations
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-8698
314.392.2307 / fax 314.392.2265
www.mobap.edu / pr@mobap.edu
For Immediate Release
RE: 2006 Commencement to be Held at Family Arena
2006 Commencement to be Held at Family Arena
August 30, 2005
A result of years of unprecedented growth, Missouri Baptist University is set to move its thirty-fourth commencement exercise to The Family Arena in St. Charles, MO, Tuesday, May 2, 2006.
“With growth comes change ,” said Dr. Arlen Dykstra, provost and vice president for academic affairs at MBU. “Just as more students are discovering Missouri Baptist University, not surprisingly, an increasing number of students are graduating and we’ve simply outgrown our commencement facility.”
With more than 4,500 people in attendance last year at the Greensfelder Complex at Queeny Park, the move to a larger venue like The Family Arena, which sports more than 11,500 seats, is no doubt indicative of the dynamic growth MBU has seen in recent years.
Last year, park rangers had to close the doors to approximately 500 attendees once the complex had exceeded capacity. Forced to make a change, the University examined options and decided a larger venue was the right move.
“Our desire is for every friend and family member to have the opportunity to watch their loved one cross the platform,” Dykstra said. “Limiting the number of friends who can be with you when you graduate is unacceptable to us – everyone takes part in the success of a graduate.”
Last year, MBU conferred 506 degrees, the largest graduating class and an increase of more than 100 over the previous year. Of that number, 191 received master’s degrees in education, the largest number conferred to date. According to projected enrollment numbers, total MBU enrollment this year, including both undergraduate and graduate students, is expected to exceed 4,200 students, helping to make this year's student population the largest in MBU's history.
According to enrollment trends, the growing number of MBU graduates isn’t likely to dissipate anytime soon. The University has broken enrollment records each year for the last decade and commencement attendance has mirrored the increases.
For the last six years, the commencement exercises have been held inside the Greensfelder Complex when MBU had outgrown the graduation ceremonies at Third Baptist Church in downtown St. Louis.
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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