Graduation & Commencement

Morning Baccalaureate Schedule

9:30 a.m. 

Breakfast

Bethany Lutheran Church (directions →)

Continental Breakfast on the lawn, provided by the congregation.

Bethany College began at Bethany Lutheran Church on October 15, 1881, when Reverend Dr. Carl A. Swensson opened Bethany Academy in the church’s sacristy with just ten students. From that small beginning grew the college we celebrate today. This breakfast is one small way the congregation continues that long relationship, celebrating Bethany students and wishing our graduates well as they take their next steps beyond Lindsborg.

10:10 a.m 

Baccalaureate Lineup 

Bethany Lutheran Church (directions →)

Assemble on the west side of Bethany Lutheran Church. (Rain location: 3rd floor, Presser Hall).

10:15 a.m. 

Processional March from Bethany Lutheran Church to Presser Hall.

10:30 a.m.

Baccalaureate Service

Presser Hall (see campus map →)

As part of Bethany's Lutheran heritage, we gather for worship before commencement activities. The service will include music, scripture readings, preaching, and prayers. Performances by Bethany music ensembles are also part of the festivities.

General seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. All are welcome to attend.

Following Baccalaureate:

Enjoy a luncheon on campus

in the Pihlblad Memorial Union (see campus map →)

Enjoy a Swedish meal served in the Bethany College cafeteria Saturday, May 2.

Serving time: 11:30-1:00.

Menu:

• Salad Bar w/ a touch of Sweden
• Carved Ham
• Swedish Meatballs
• Aubergines au Gratin (Baked cheese stuffed eggplant)
• Dill Potatoes
• Cream Corn
• Peas & Onions
• Swedish Rye Bread
• Swedish Cream
• Ostkaka w/ Lingonberries
• Swedish Sticky Chocolate Cake
• Assorted Pies

(*Menu subject to change)

Prices:

• Adults: $12.00*
• Children (4-12): $6.00*
• And then new this year - Graduates: $9.00*

(*tax included)

We do not have meal plans during this time, so students will not be able to use those.

 No reservations required; credit cards and cash accepted. Meal swipes available for graduates with meal plans. 

Afternoon Commencement Schedule

In the event of severe weather during the Commencement Ceremony, Bethany College employees are stationed throughout Presser Hall to guide guests to pre-determined shelter locations.

1:00 p.m

Presser Hall (see campus map →)

Graduating seniors assemble on front steps for the class photo.

1:30 p.m. 

Commencement Procession 

Assemble at Amphitheatre (see campus map →)

(Rain location: 3rd floor, Presser Hall)

1:50 p.m. 

Processional March to Presser Hall.

2:00 p.m. 

Commencement Ceremony 

Presser Hall (see campus map →)

General seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Friday, May 1

Graduation Preparation Details:

• Graduate seating information will be explained at rehearsal.
• Cap, Gown, and Alumni-Advancement Gift Pickup: These items will be distributed at rehearsal
• Alternate Pickup Option: If you are unable to attend rehearsal, you may pick up your cap, gown, and Alumni-Advancement gift on Saturday, May 2, at 9:00 AM in Presser Hall.

Rehearsal Schedule:

1:45 p.m.

Rehearsal 

Presser Hall (see campus map →)

Rev. Donna Simon, the fifth bishop of the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will be our Baccalaureate speaker this year on Saturday, May 2 at 10:30 am. Her territory covers all of the states of Missouri and Kansas, including 149 congregations, multiple campus ministries, four synod-authorized ministries, and two outdoor ministries. She also serves on the Governing Board of Bethany College.

Rev. Simon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University, a Masters of Divinity from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California, and a Doctor of Ministry from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. 

 In October of 2000, she was ordained extra ordinem, in violation of church policies preventing LGBTQIA+ leaders from serving as ordained ELCA clergy. When those policies changed in 2009, Simon was received to the ELCA clergy roster. She served St. Mark Hope and Peace Lutheran Church in Kansas City, MO from 2000 until being elected bishop in June of 2025.

Bishop Simon is passionate about justice for all people, inclusion of persons pressed to the margins, and her family—wife Colleen, son Dominic, a great old dog named Beasley, and three confounding cats.

Benjamin R. Teitelbaum, '07, is Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and International Affairs. He earned a doctorate from Brown University and a Bachelor of Music degree in nyckelharpa performance from Bethany College. He has previously served as Instructor and Head of Nordic Studies, also at the University of Colorado Boulder, and Visiting Scholar at Karlstad University, Sweden and the Institute for Social Sciences, History and Philosophy at the University of Campinas, Brazil. 

Teitelbaum’s interests include music and politics, reactionary ideology and aesthetics, Western esotericism, political theology, research ethics and Scandinavian traditional music and folklore. His first book, Lions of the North: Sounds of the New Nordic Radical Nationalism, received the 2020 Provost’s Faculty Achievement Award and an honorable mention from the International Studies Association. His second book, War for Eternity: The Return of Traditionalism and the Rise of the Populist Right, has been translated into multiple languages and was named Financial Times editor’s pick and a book of the year by CapX and Estadão. His forthcoming book, Limitless, explores God, aesthetics, power and expansion in the contemporary tech world.