The largest class in 30 years was awarded diplomas during Central Methodist University’s annual graduation ceremony on Saturday afternoon in Pickett Field House. Three hundred sixty-nine graduates earned bachelor’s, master’s, and associate’s degrees.

This year’s commencement speaker was 1969 graduate Laurence R. Tucker. He serves as senior counsel to the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale LLP in Kansas City, sits on the university’s board of trustees, and won the CMU Distinguished Alumni Award in 1996.

Mr. Tucker addressed the current attacks on higher education among our culture. He held up CMU’s graduating Class of 2025 as an example of opposition to the fiery rhetoric, noting that Central students do not graduate with meaningless degrees and insurmountable student debt.

Special award winners included Casey J. Brooks, the Victoria award winner, and Amana M. Mantel, the Human Relations award winner. Senior Sofia R. Burks was named the 2025 Selecman award winner, the highest award conferred to a CMU graduate.