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BSC Commencement to honor more than 900 graduates on May 10

Published: May 06 2024
BSC Commencement to honor more than 900 graduates on May 10 - Photo
Bismarck State College (BSC) will confer 1,052 degrees to 903 graduates during its 84th BSC Commencement ceremony on Friday, May 10, at 2 p.m. (CST) at the Bismarck Event Center. Graduates include those who completed their course of instruction during the 2023-24 academic year, as well as those who expect to complete requirements during the summer.
 
Of this year’s graduates, 11 are high school students who have earned their associate degree or a certificate degree from BSC by taking dual credit and/or early entry classes and are being awarded their college diploma prior to graduating from high school.
 
This year’s commencement speaker is Deb Hoistad, a three-sport athlete originally from Havana, N.D., who proudly wore the Mystics uniform from 1975 to 1977 as a volleyball, basketball and track student-athlete. From Bismarck, Hoistad went on to play basketball for San Diego State University and earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. She was awarded the first major scholarship for an out-of-state recruit and named Most Outstanding Athlete for Women’s Basketball in 1979. After college, Hoistad coached volleyball and basketball at the high school and collegiate levels and launched a high school volleyball program and a college track program at two North Dakota schools. During her coaching career, she was nominated for Female College Coach of the Year by the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and for the North Dakota High School Activities Association’s Region 8 Coach of the Year. In 2022, Hoistad was inducted into the BSC Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
Kaia Lehman of Dickinson, N.D., will be this year’s student speaker. Lehman is graduating from BSC with an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree in graphic design and communications.
 
The ceremony will stream live at bismarckstate.edu/livestream. A recording of the ceremony will be available online at bismarckstate.edu/commencement after May 15 and a recorded broadcast of the ceremony will air on Dakota Media Access, Cable Channel 12 or Channel 612 HD.