Johnny MorrisBeginning at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 11, 600 students from both the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the School of Natural Resources will come together at Hearnes Center to participate in their graduation ceremony.
The ceremony marks a turning point not only for the students, but also for the schools, as it will be the first time CAFNR and SNR have held a joint commencement.
The speaker of the ceremony who will share advice and words of wisdom to the graduates is Johnny Morris, noted conservationist and founder/CEO of Bass Pro Shops.
The Missouri-born businessman is the founder of one of the most successful outdoor sporting goods stores and a renowned conservationist, who recently celebrated the grand opening of “Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium.” The new not-for-profit conservation attraction is located in Springfield, the same city where, in 1972, Morris first began selling fishing gear in the back of his father’s Brown Derby liquor store. Since then, his enterprise has expanded to over ninety locations across the United States and Canada. In 2016, Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s, with Morris as CEO of the new entity.
Together, the 600 CAFNR and SNR students will mark the end of their end of their academic careers and celebrate this rite of passage as one student body.