Hesston College will celebrate the class of 2013 during Commencement Weekend May 3 to 5.

The commencement ceremony will be at 9 a.m., Sunday, May 5, in Yost Center. Mennonite World Conference President-elect, J. Nelson Kraybill, will present the commencement address.

Kraybill of Elkhart, Ind., serves as lead pastor of Prairie Street Mennonite Church (Elkhart) and will begin his six-year with MWC at the global assembly in Harrisburg, Pa., in July 2015. He is President Emeritus of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (Elkhart) where he served from 1996 to 2008. He was also program director of the London Mennonite Center in London, England, from 1991 to 1996.

Student speakers for the ceremony are Mallory Eicher (Berne, Ind.) and Taylor Ermoian (Hays, Kan.).

Academic departments will recognize graduates in department specific ceremonies May 4.

Disaster Management students will be recognized at 9 a.m. in the Northlawn Studio Theatre. Paul Unruh (Hesston), a longtime Mennonite Disaster Service volunteer and member of the bi-national MDS Board of Directors will present the message “Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things.” As a member of the Disaster Management Program Advisory Committee, Unruh was influential in the formation of Hesston’s program in 2005. He frequently presents in disaster management classes about the importance of communicating with disaster survivors and introduces students to the world of MDS. Amy Repp (Valley Center, Kan.) will give a student reflection.

A pinning ceremony for nursing students will be at 10 a.m. in the Hesston Mennonite Church sanctuary followed by a reception in the church Community Center.

Pastoral Ministries commissioning will be at 1 p.m. at Hesston Mennonite Church followed by a reception in the church Education Hall. Kurt Horst, lead pastor at Whitestone Mennonite Church (Hesston) and a 1973 Hesston College graduate will present the message. Before returning to his hometown of Hesston, Horst served as administrator of Johnstown (Pa.) Christian School and as a pastor in Johnstown. He served as conference minister of Allegheny Mennonite Conference from 1996 to 2009.

Aviation and Air Traffic Control students will be recognized during a 2:30 p.m. reception in the Hesston Mennonite Church Community Center. Jonathan Rudy (Manheim, Pa.), father of 2013 Aviation graduate David Rudy and 2011 Aviation graduate and current Hesston flight instructor Solomon Rudy, will speak. Rudy is professor of Peace and Conflict Studies and scholar in residence at the Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College. Rudy and his family spent 15 years working for Mennonite Central Committee in Africa and Asia. He has also worked as an independent peacebuilding consultant in Afghanistan, the Phillippines, Burkina Faso, Kenya and South Sudan.

Other weekend events include a voice recital by sophomore Emerencia Dudas (Walbridge, Ohio) at 4 p.m., May 3 at Hesston Mennonite Church. Theatre students will present student-directed one-act plays at 7 p.m., May 3 and 3:30 p.m., May 4 in the Northlawn Studio Theatre. The Bel Canto Singers will present a concert at 4 p.m., May 4 at Hesston Mennonite Church as a precursor to their May tour to the east coast.

For a full weekend schedule or more information, visit the Hesston College website at hesston.edu or call the Alumni and Church Relations office at 620-327-8109 or toll free at 866-437-7866.