Bluffton University unrolls the purple carpet for May Day-commencement weekend
Here's the Bluffton University arts and events calendar for May. Events are free and open to the public unless noted otherwise.
May 3 May Day Musical: “Songs for a New World,” 7:30 p.m., Yoder Recital Hall. Tickets, $13 for adults and $5 for all students, are available online at http://tickets.bluffton.edu or from 4-7 p.m. weekdays at the box office in the Sommer Center for Health and Fitness Education.
May 4
May Day: A full schedule of events is available at www.bluffton.edu/blufftonalumni/mayday/schedule.html
Alumni Choir Sing: 9:15 a.m., Yoder Recital Hall, open to former members of any Bluffton choir
May Day Ceremony: 11 a.m., Centennial Hall lawn, including the Maypole dance by first-year students, crowning of the May Day king and queen, and recognition of graduating seniors
Music Honors Recital: 2:30 p.m., Yoder Recital Hall
May Day Musical: “Songs for a New World,” 7:30 p.m., Yoder Recital Hall. Tickets, $13 for adults and $5 for all students, are available online at http://tickets.bluffton.edu or from 4-7 p.m. weekdays at the box office in the Sommer Center for Health and Fitness Education.
May 5 Commencement: 2 p.m., Salzman Stadium
Commencement details
Dr. J. Denny Weaver, a professor emeritus of religion at Bluffton University, will return to campus to deliver the commencement address on Sunday, May 5. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. in Salzman Stadium or, in the event of inclement weather, in the Sommer Center for Health and Fitness Education.
In his speech, Weaver is expected to encourage graduates to apply their investment in education to help “bend the arc” that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said is long but bends toward justice.
Weaver joined the Bluffton faculty in 1974 and served for 31 years in the Department of History and Religion, including nine years as department chair. He was also Bluffton’s longtime NCAA faculty athletics representative. Since retiring from the university in May 2006, he has lived in Madison, Wis., where he belongs to Madison Mennonite Church and chairs its Christian Education Committee. He was recently named a member of the Peace and Justice Commission of the Wisconsin Council of Churches.
He also remains editor of the C. Henry Smith book series and active in publishing and speaking. His most recent books include a second, revised and expanded edition of “The Nonviolent Atonement,” and “Defenseless Christianity: Anabaptism for a Nonviolent Church,” which he co-authored with Dr. Gerald Mast, a Bluffton professor of communication. His new book, “The Nonviolent God,” is forthcoming.
Weaver’s many articles and chapters in other books, as well as speaking engagements, address a variety of topics related to atonement theology, the character of God, nonviolence, violence in traditional theology, violence in society and Anabaptist history and theology. He has lectured on atonement theology in the United Kingdom, the Congo and in Germany.
Stories Posted This Week
Friday, April 25, 2025
Thursday, April 24, 2025
- Blanchard Valley Health Foundation welcomes Sapp as Chief Development Officer
- LEO Club invitation to 5K and 1-mile walk & stroll
- Memorial bench and tree planting at Village Arboretum
- Bluffton Beavers sports roundup, April 16-22
- Pirate baseball loss vs. Fort Jennings
- Alan Garmatter is new CNB Chief Credit Officer
- Parks & Recreation Committee meets April 25
- Bad Dreams: Health implications
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Monday, April 21, 2025
- ONU theater students give voice to the Ukrainian people
- Permits will be needed for overnight parking on Spring St.
- April 26 Easter for Kids event
- Anabaptist choral concert on April 27
- April 23 landscaping night at the Bluffton Sportsmen's Club-LE&W Depot
- Upcoming BPL events, April 21-26
- Marc Augsburger is 2025 Outstanding Alumni from Rhodes State College
- Pirate girls win O-G Gold track meet, Bluffton boys 2nd