Student-Athletes Receive Diplomas At Fall Commencement Ceremony

Twenty-One Bulldogs became Drake graduates this weekend

DES MOINES, Iowa – A total of 21 Drake University student-athletes representing five teams received their diplomas during Drake University's 139th commencement ceremonies this weekend at the Knapp Center.

Those receiving their degrees – the ultimate goal of all Drake student-athletes – include Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, an MVC Elite 18 Award Winner and seven student-athletes who earned academic all-conference honors this past season. Nineteen have also been a part of teams that have won a conference championship at Drake, nine have earned all-conference honors and one, football's John Hugunin, has garnered All-America honors on the playing field.

Saturday's commencement ceremonies add to the achievements of what has been a banner era for Drake student-athletes in the classroom. The Bulldogs are coming off one of their strongest academic years in athletic department history. In 2014-15, all 18 of Drake's teams maintained a 3.0 or higher grade point average. Also, 76.5 percent of Drake student-athletes recorded a 3.0 or higher GPA. A total of 46 Bulldogs finished the season with perfect 4.0 GPAs as half of Drake's teams recorded their highest team GPAs in program history. As a result, Drake was honored by the Missouri Valley Conference with its second straight All-Academic Award, given annually to the program with the highest cumulative GPA.

The Bulldogs' fall graduates include seven student-athletes graduating either cum laude or magna cum laude.

Below are the student-athletes receiving their bachelor's degrees this weekend.

Women's Basketball
Cara Lutes – Elementary Education – Magna Cum Laude

Football
Jack Beck – Marketing – Cum Laude
John Bloss – Marketing, Management
Cam Bohnert – Marketing
Devon Dodds – Entrepreneurial Management, Marketing
Brad Duwe – Health Sciences
Michael Hudson – Management
John Hugunin – Secondary Education
Aaron Johnson – Law, Politics & Society – Cum Laude
John McMahon - Marketing
Ezekiel Okeleye – Public Relations, Advertising
Bob Quilico, Jr. - Accounting/Finance
Andy Rice – Marketing, Management – Magna Cum Laude
Colton Rodgers – Information Systems, Marketing
Gary Scott, Jr. – Management
Lee Snell – Marketing
Michael Vankat – Accounting, Finance – Cum Laude