U.S. Congressman Garret Graves will speak to graduates and their guests at the University’s spring commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 14 in Stopher Gymnasium.

Graves is a Baton Rouge native who attributes his passion of public service to being brought up in an environment that highly valued individual excellence, and rewarded responsibility, innovation and a strong work ethic. He has represented Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District since January 2015. Graves sits on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure as well as the House Committees on Natural Resources.

Shortly after his election to Congress, Graves opened a district office in Thibodaux on the Nicholls Campus and created a flow of interns from the University.

According to a press release from the University, Graves’ six-year tenure included “[guiding] Louisiana through three major hurricanes, record flooding on the Mississippi river system and the nation’s worst oil spill.”

The University has seen record-breaking numbers of graduates over the past four years. In order to accommodate all graduates and their guests, spring commencement will be divided into three ceremonies. Each ceremony requires a ticket for admission, and will begin at 9 a.m. for the College of Education. The College of Nursing and Allied Health will commence at noon, followed by the College of Arts and Sciences at 3 p.m.

A live stream of all three ceremonies will be accessible at http://nicholls.edu/commencement and the full video of each ceremony will be posted to the University’s website the following week.