Indiana University Kokomo, fresh off the announcement of a new student housing complex, will graduate a record 658 students at its commencement ceremony next month.
The ceremony – scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, in the Kokomo Event and Conference Center – will include a class representing 36 Indiana counties, four states and 11 countries, according to a university media release.
Thirty-six percent of the class is first-generation college students, and 18 are graduating with 4.0 GPAs.
This marks the second consecutive year the school, which currently enrolls more than 3,000 students, has boasted a record number of graduates. The May 2017 commencement, with 643 graduates, was then the largest in IU Kokomo history.
Officials also announced in September 2017 the Kokomo campus was the only Indiana University location with increased enrollment during the fall semester, going up 2.3 percent. Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight said in an interview this week with Indiana Public Media that IU Kokomo has been the fastest-growing campus over the last three years in the IU network.
Notably, the growing student body has led to increased change around the local campus.
A new student housing facility near IU Kokomo, with space for 125 students, will begin construction later this year, city and development officials announced Monday.
University Park, a 125-bed student housing complex to be built at the southeast corner of South Lafountain and Boulevard streets near the IU Kokomo campus, will be strictly student housing and will likely open in summer 2019.
Developers expect the single-use, all-student housing development to provide the feel of a traditional college experience on a campus that has relied heavily on non-traditional students and commuters.
Its the goal, as Goodnight noted, to create an increased "destination type of campus."
The complex will join The Annex, 2205 S. Washington St., as housing options for IUK students. The Annex, which opened in 2014, features 52 two-bedroom units and eight four-bedroom units and is 100 percent pre-leased for the fall of 2018, according to its website.
Graduation day
IU President Michael McRobbie will preside over the May 8 ceremony, which falls on Primary Election Day. IU Kokomo Chacellor Susan Sciame-Giesecke will present the graduating class, with a celebration reception in Alumni Hall immediately following the ceremony, for graduates and their families.
Benjamin Liechty, director of alumni relations and campus ceremonies, noted in the media release that with a record number of graduates, seating in the Kokomo Event and Conference Center will go quickly.
Liechty asked graduates to invite seven guests or fewer to the ceremony, and said once seating is full, additional guests will be directed to overflow seating at the event center to watch the live feed.
Additional family and friends may watch the ceremony from the Kelley Student Center, Room 130, via live stream.
The School of Nursing has the largest number of graduates in 2018, with 143 earning the Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The second most frequent degree being awarded is the Bachelor of General Studies, with 80. This brings the grand total of IU Kokomo graduates to 14,981, according to statistics provided by the university.
Free parking is available at the Kokomo Event and Conference Center, or at the Ivy Tech Community College campus, 1815 E. Morgan St., with shuttle service available.