Drake University will award 1,319 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees at its 2026 spring commencement ceremonies. Drake will host the undergraduate ceremony at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 17, and the graduate and doctoral ceremony will follow at 2 p.m. Both ceremonies will take place in the Knapp Center at 2601 Forest Avenue, Des Moines, and be presided over by Drake University President Marty Martin.

Griff II ‘Graduates’

A special guest at this year’s undergraduate ceremony will be Griff II, who will “graduate” from his official live mascot duties and cross the stage with the Class of 2026. Griff III officially accepted the live mascot responsibilities at a ceremony on May 8, 2026, at Old Main and will serve the University in the years to come, accompanied by his caretaker, Erin Bell.

Commencement Speakers

Kristopher (Kris) Covi, alumnus speaker

The Drake University undergraduate ceremony will include remarks from alumnus Kristopher (Kris) Covi, AS’95, welcoming new Drake graduates into a community of more than 75,000 Bulldogs. Covi is a shareholder at Dvorak Law Group in Omaha, Neb., and currently serves on the Drake University National Alumni Board of Directors. He earned his law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1998. In his spare time, Covi is a comedian and does stand-up comedy shows in the Omaha area.

Katelyn Jetelina, Ph.D., honorary degree recipient, Doctor of Humane Letters

Katelyn Jetelina, Ph.D., is a distinguished epidemiologist and the founder of Your Local Epidemiologist, a newsletter that has reached more than 500 million readers globally. A TIME100 Most Influential People in Health honoree, she has served as a as a senior advisor to three former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) directors. She is a co-founder of The Evidence Collective and an adjunct professor at the Yale School of Public Health, dedicated to translating complex data into actionable public health insights. Jetelina earned her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in 2016 in epidemiology and biostatistics and her master’s degree in public health in 2014 from the University of Texas Health Science Center. She completed a bachelor’s degree in physiology from the University of Arizona in 2011. Jetelina also holds an honorary doctorate from The State University of New York (SUNY).

Emerson Whittemore, Oreon E. Scott Senior Legacy Award, Fulbright scholar, and undergraduate ceremony speaker

Each year, Drake presents the Oreon E. Scott Senior Legacy Award to an undergraduate student leader who embodies scholarship, leadership, service, and involvement. This year’s honoree is Emerson Whittemore. Whittemore is from Brooklyn Park, Minn. She is graduating from Drake with majors in sociology and Spanish and a minor in leadership education and development.

While attending Drake University, she has been part of the Donald V. Adams Leadership Institute, Student Alumni Association, Violence Intervention Partners, Student Senate, a peer mentor/academic consultant, Alpha Kappa Delta, Phi Beta Kappa, and Kappa Kappa Gamma. She is a leadership selection committee member for the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity Council and District Directors. During the summer of 2025, Whittemore served as a social and human rights intern at El Instituto Educativo San Gregorio El Iluminador and El Instituto Superior Daguerre in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Upon graduation, Whittemore will be working as a traveling leadership consultant for the Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity headquarters until March of 2027, when she will move to Uruguay on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship grant through November of 2027.

Alicia Chilton, graduate ceremony speaker

Alicia Chilton will address graduate students and guests at the commencement ceremony for graduate and doctoral degree recipients. Chilton is graduating from Drake University with her Master of Business Administration degree. She currently works at the Greater Des Moines Partnership, where she is the vice president of marketing. Before joining the Greater Des Moines Partnership, Chilton worked at Drake for more than two years as the assistant director of marketing. While employed at Drake, she collaborated with the annual giving team to help fundraise during the “All In” program. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Iowa State University, with minors in design studies and apparel merchandising.

Commencement Schedule, Parking, and Livestream

Saturday, May 16

• 3 p.m.: The College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Doctoral Hooding and Commencement Ceremony
• 7 p.m.: The Drake Law School Commencement

Sunday, May 17

• 10 a.m.: The 159th Commencement Ceremony for Undergraduate Degree Recipients
• 2 p.m.: The 159th Commencement Ceremony for Graduate and Doctoral Degree Recipients

Drake will stream all four ceremonies at live.drake.edu. Free parking is available in campus lots during the ceremonies. For more details, visit the Registrar’s website.