Mount Mercy celebrates with the class of 2012

Mount Mercy University will celebrate with the class of 2012 during commencement activities honoring undergraduate, graduate and adult students.

More than 450 undergraduate students and approximately 80 graduate students will walk across the stage during the commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 20 at 1 p.m. at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. A formal hooding ceremony, honoring graduates in all four of Mount Mercy's graduate programs, will be held on Friday, May 18 at 7:00 p.m. in Hennessey Recreation Center on Mount Mercy's campus.

Mary Schulte LoVerde '75, medical researcher, author and motivational speaker, will serve as the University's keynote speaker during the commencement ceremony on May 20. Senior Adam Kaefring, from Solon, Iowa, will serve as the student speaker.

LoVerde is a highly accomplished 1975 graduate from Mount Mercy's nursing department who has built a professional reputation on a global scale. A native of Mediapolis, Iowa, she is an internationally recognized expert in life-balance strategies and has authored three best-selling books on the topic.

She has been a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show; a featured life-balance expert on ABC's World News Tonight and ABC's 20/20; and the national spokesperson for the Better Sleep Council and Camp to Belong, which reunites brothers and sisters placed in different foster homes. She is a contributor to such well-known best-sellers as Chocolate for a Woman's Soul, and has touched millions of readers through her articles in prominent magazines and newspapers, from The Wall Street Journal to Family Circle. She is also the recipient of a Nellie Westerman ethics prize for her work on informed consent.

Kaefring is a 2012 marketing and management major. He has served as a leader on Mount Mercy's award-winning Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) team, and has served as the business advisory board coordinator, co-president and vice president. He also served on the SIFE presentation team twice, helping the team advance to nationals in 2010.

On campus Kaefring participated in the Mount Mercy University Choir and served as choir president for two years. He also served as an orientation leader for two years. In 2009-10, he served as the Student Government Association's (SGA) administrative assistant, and continued to play a role by serving as an SGA representative on the University committees of Enrollment Management, Strategic Planning and Educational Policies.

For more information on Mount Mercy's commencement activities, including additional speaker information and schedule of activities, please visit www.mtmercy.edu/commencement.