Missouri School of Journalism to recognize 423 graduates at May 2026 Commencement Ceremony
The Missouri School of Journalism will celebrate the achievements of its May and August graduates during its spring commencement ceremony at 7 p.m., Friday, May 15, at Mizzou Arena.
The event will recognize students receiving degrees in Bachelor of Journalism, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy programs. The ceremony is free and open to the public, and tickets are not required. For those unable to attend in person, the ceremony will be livestreamed at commencement.missouri.edu.
The top 10 percent of the School’s graduates will be inducted into Kappa Tau Alpha, a journalism honor society founded at the School of Journalism in 1910. The KTA reception will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. on Friday, May 15, in 88 Gannett Hall, Fisher Auditorium. The new members of Kappa Tau Alpha are:
- Doctor of Philosophy: Vy Luong, Živilē Raškauskaité
- Master of Arts: Quyen Dang, Grace Hervey, Meredith Heuring, Emily Kebert, Mariia Novoselia, Saurav Rahman, Victoria Watson, Tyler White, Cayli Yanagida
- Bachelor of Journalism: Lily Burger, Danielle Carr, Laine Cibulskis, Emma Clark, Matthew Clark, Ashley Dickey, Margaret Feldmiller, Ashley Gaccetta, Austin Garza, Kaitlin Green, Mia Hanlon, Gretchen Helmsing, Briana Iordan, Tanvi Kulkarni, Tori Larner, Kathryn Lopez, Jillian Marquardt, Aiyana Massie, Kavya Ramesh, Kelly Ritter, Ashley Rodio, Hannah Schuh, Lillian Skaggs, Morgan Slagle, Preston Smith, Hudson Summerall, Isabella Trost, Heidi Vial, Olivia Walsh, Laiyi Yi
Aiyana Massie, of Lake Ozark, Missouri, will serve as master of ceremonies. Massie is graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Journalism with an emphasis in photojournalism and documentary through the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism. She worked as a photojournalist and documentary reporter for the Columbia Missourian and directed, produced, shot and edited for Method M Films. During her time at Mizzou, she served as president, vice president of recruitment and chapter relations chair for the Beta Eta chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, and as outreach coordinator for the Mizzou Documentary Club. She also contributed to the documentary team for the Missouri Photo Workshop and earned induction into Kappa Tau Alpha.
“I am so excited to serve as the master of ceremonies. I truly look forward to celebrating the wonderful achievements of my peers on such a joyful day,” said Massie. “Looking back on my time at Mizzou, I am so thankful to have received a world-class education in my home state. From fostering a wide array of adaptable skills to developing my competence as an analytical and objective journalist, I feel secure knowing that my education will provide a strong foundation for my work beyond the Missouri School of Journalism.”
Kaiya Lynch, of Kansas City, Missouri, will present “Thoughts of the Class” during the ceremony. Lynch is graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism with an emphasis in strategic communication and minors in information technology and rhetoric and writing studies. While at Mizzou, she served as a Mizzou Tour Guide and public relations account manager for MOJO Ad, conducted research as a Gregory Scholar, and participated in Matchbook Marketing and the American Advertising Federation. She mentored students at the Missouri University Journalism Workshop and received the Sharon K. Tiley and Gloria Fondren Journalism scholarships. Lynch is also a recipient of the Mizzou ’39 award, which recognizes 39 outstanding seniors for their academic achievement, leadership and service to Mizzou and the community, and was named to the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Students in 2026, recognizing 25 high-achieving strategic communication seniors.
“For me, this moment represents all the small moments that added up: late nights editing, meaningful interviews, and the process of seeing ideas come to life,” said Lynch. “Journalism taught me to sit in uncertainty and keep going anyway. I hope my classmates leave with confidence in that process. We’ve learned how to find clarity in complexity, and that’s something that will stay with us far beyond the newsroom.”
The School is honored to welcome Chase Davis, BJ ’06, as the alumni speaker. Davis is an independent journalist and consultant who has spent more than 20 years working at the intersection of news, data and technology. Most recently, he led the AI Lab at the Minnesota Star Tribune, where he also held senior roles overseeing the newsroom’s data, visual and digital journalism teams. Prior to that, he led the Interactive News team at The New York Times and began his career as an investigative and data reporter in Texas, Iowa and California.
The School will also confer an honorary degree upon Barbara Stubbs Cochran, an award-winning journalist whose career has spanned the print, broadcast and nonprofit worlds. Cochran currently serves as president of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation, which is working to build a monument in Washington, D.C., to honor journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty. She previously served nine years as the Missouri School of Journalism’s Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Journalism and spent 12 years as president of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). Earlier in her career, she served as vice president and Washington bureau chief of CBS News, becoming the first woman to head a network bureau in Washington.
Updated: May 5, 2026