Northwest College Commencement scheduled for Saturday, May 9

POWELL – Commencement exercises at Northwest College are scheduled for Saturday, May 9, beginning at 10:30 a.m. in Cabre Gym. The ceremony will be live streamed on the NWC YouTube channel, or viewers can watch directly from the college website at nwc.edu/commencement/streaming.

This year’s guest speakers include Milo Asay (the 2026 Distinguished Faculty Award winner), Raylee St. Onge Honeycutt (the 2026 Distinguished Alumna) and Lauren Bates (student representative).

Asay has been a member of the faculty for 16 years, serving as Assistant Professor of ESL (English as a Second Language). He’s lived in six different countries on five continents and spent 20 years teaching at universities in Japan and Saudi Arabia before returning home to Wyoming and joining the Humanities Division at Northwest College in 2010. During his time at NWC, Asay started the Japanese language studies program more than a decade ago, has led several student trips to Japan since then, and has also served as coordinator of the popular Writers Series since 2019. 

Honeycutt is an industry leader in Montana agriculture who currently serves as executive vice president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, the first female to hold that position in the organization’s 140-year history. She has received a Montana Governor’s Award for Excellence, been recognized as a finalist for the Indiana Farm Bureau Excellence in Agriculture Award, been appointed as a Montana Ambassador,and has led multiple national award-winning marketing campaigns. 

Bates is graduating with an A.S. in outdoor education and recreation and an A.A. in political science. Originally from Lovell, she has been an active participant in campus life over the past two years. Bates is a member of the NWC Outdoor Club and Phi Theta Kappa, has served as a peer mentor with TRIO and has recently taken on the role of resident assistant. She plans to volunteer for her local search and rescue team and for the ski patrol during the winter months.