A little over half the students eligible to participate in North Dakota State’s spring 2016 commencement will do so.

Graduation is Saturday, May 14 with two ceremonies at the Fargodome that day. The colleges of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Engineering, Human Development and Education, University Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies will commence at 10 a.m., followed by the college of Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources, Business, Health Professions and Science and Mathematics at 2 p.m.

Commencement speaker Jon Lipp, a business administration major, said “that some students just feel burned out at the end and want to get their degree and go. They also may not want to sit through the entire ceremony if their family is unable to attend.”

Mackayla Headlee, an engineering major and also commencement speaker, agreed for another reason.

“Sadly sometimes students don’t feel connected to NDSU enough to want to be a part of the ceremony,” she said.

Associate registrar Jackie Schluchter reported that of the 2,142 student eligible to participate in commencement, 1,301 graduates have indicated they will march in the ceremony, as of Tuesday morning.

The deadline for RSVPing to commencement was 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Headlee, who said she is a third generation Bison, said her “whole family is going to be there” to see her speak. which might make her “more nervous than talking in front of” her peers.

Lipp said he is “expecting to have the time of my life” and is excited for the opportunity to “help send my classmates off on the next stage of their journeys.”

Lipp also said he is “definitely nervous about it as well, but my excitement far outweighs it. This is going to be an experience I’ll remember forever.”

“Getting the email was one of my proudest, most humbling moments I have had at NDSU,” Headlee said. “I was shocked and honored to have been selected to speak.”

Spring 2016’s commencement ceremonies will be streamed live for those who cannot attend.