Please join us in congratulating the 444 candidates for December graduation. Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming ceremony.
Concordia University Wisconsin will host a commencement ceremony for undergraduate and graduate students on Saturday, December 17 at 1:30 pm in the R. John Buuck Field House on the CUW campus.
Tickets are required for guests. Each graduate can request up to a total of six tickets, which are free. For details regarding how to secure your tickets, please visit here.
For those unable to attend in person, the event will also be livestreamed, beginning five minutes before the start of the ceremony:
Baccalaureate Ceremony and Student Awards
The Baccalaureate Ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. in the Chapel of Christ Triumphant.
At CUW, the baccalaureate ceremony is a Christian worship service with hymns, scripture lessons, a message, prayers, and special recognitions. It is an opportunity for our Christian community to celebrate all of God’s blessings associated with higher education and the earning of a degree. It is also a time to recognize and to thank God for all our vocations, what we do in our various careers to honor and to serve our Creator and Redeemer.
The Marsha Konz Student Educator Award:
Katie Borcherding
for superior achievement in the field of teacher education
The Marsha Konz Graduate Educator Award:
Claudine Harper
for outstanding performance as an educator and as a student in graduate education studies
Commencement Speaker
FLAME—Lutheran hip-hop artist
FLAME is a GRAMMY® nominated hip-hop artist. He is a well-versed leader in the Christian hip-hop scene with a growing list of accolades, including a GRAMMY® nomination, several Dove and Stellar Award nominations, and multiple Billboard chart toppers. He was born and raised in the inner city of St. Louis, MO. He has released 9 albums to date and Stellar Award winning “God Knows” (2018) under his own imprint.
For over a decade, FLAME has traveled throughout North America & the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and Asia performing music that has impacted the masses. In addition to touring, writing, recording and co-producing his own projects, FLAME founded and helms Clear Sight Music, a burgeoning record label raising the bar in Christian hip-hop and beyond. He has a Master’s degree in theology with a minor in counseling.
Student Speaker
Candice T. Wright—Doctor of Education in Leadership in Innovation & Continuous Improvement
In addition to the doctorate degree she will receiving on Saturday, Wright has already earned not one, but two master of science degrees from Concordia University Wisconsin. That’s quite an accomplishment for anyone, but especially for someone how is the owner and operator of not one, but two small businesses. Those would be Granny’s House, Inc., a chain of assisted living facilities in Milwaukee and Washington County, and Lily Rose Care Coordination, a prenatal care organization serving pregnant women and families.
In addition, Candice is a yoga and meditation instructor, focusing on development of the mind, body, and soul—one who offers free or lowest cost services as a way of giving. And she also serves as president of the Upsilon Mu Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and the Diamond Jubilee Pearls Foundation, two organizations whose mission is to serve mankind.
On top of all this, Candice and her husband, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Ramard D. Wright, are the parents of TEN biological children, a brood they have nicknamed “The Perfect 10.”
Special Awards
Master Educator Award—Elementary Education:
Jeff Potter, Boca Raton, Florida
Jeff graduated from Concordia University Wisconsin in 2008, and taught briefly at Jackson Elementary in Jackson, Wisconsin. He then accepted a call to teach fourth and fifth grades at Trinity Lutheran in Holly Hill, Florida, where he also served as acting principal for a time. In 2014, he was called to become assistant principal at St. Paul Lutheran School in Boca Raton, where he has served there ever since.
In the words of St. Paul Principal James Richards: “Jeff is a person who strives to accomplish a task with vigor and grit. He does not take shortcuts and will think outside the box about handling obstacles. He volunteers constantly and is someone our entire ministry counts on. Simply put, St. Paul would not be the same without him.”
Master Educator Award—Secondary Education
Todd Huebner, Brookville, New York
Todd Huebner has deep Wisconsin roots, having graduated from Milwaukee Lutheran High School in 1986 and from Concordia University Wisconsin, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in education, in 1990. It’s in New York, however, where he’s made his mark as a Lutheran educator. He is currently serving in his 33rd year at Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School in Brookville, New York.
In addition to being an outstanding teacher, Todd has remained extremely active in student activities. He coached the school’s varsity baseball team from 1991 to 2005 and served as athletic director from 2006 to 2021. Today, he continues as assistant AD and is known as “the Voice of the Crusaders,” announcing at all the team’s football games and some basketball games.
He has also gone on two Luther High mission trips to Puerto Rico, in 2019 and 2020, with plans in the works to return again in 2023.
Perhaps most importantly, Todd is known for his positive spirit and energy. In the words of Paul Wenger, retired principal of Long Island Lutheran: “Beyond all his professional responsibilities he is one of the most positive people I have ever known. I cannot think of a teacher more deserving of the Master Teacher Award than Todd Huebner.”
For complete details regarding the December 2022 commencement ceremony, click HERE.
Want in?
Concordia University Wisconsin is a Lutheran higher education community committed to helping students develop in mind, body, and spirit for service to Christ in the Church and the world. Want to learn more or apply today? Just click the link below!