Lankford to Speak at OBU Commencement Aug. 1

June 30, 2020

James Lankford, United States Senator from Oklahoma, will deliver the address to graduates during OBU’s Spring Commencement ceremony Saturday, Aug. 1. The ceremony will take place on the south lawn of Raley Chapel on the OBU campus in Shawnee, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

The ceremony was moved outdoors to allow for social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The time was then moved to 8:30 a.m., to help alleviate the effects of the August heat. Seating will be provided for students and participants in the ceremony. However, all attendees are asked to bring their own seating for the event.

Graduation rehearsal will be held Friday, July 31, at 3 p.m. in Potter Auditorium in Raley Chapel.

From 1995 to 2009, Lankford served as director of student ministry at the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and director of the Falls Creek Youth Camp, the largest youth camp in the United States, with more than 51,000 individuals attending each summer. In 2010, he was elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was then elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014 to complete an unexpired term and re-elected to a full six-year term in 2016.

As chairman of the Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management Subcommittee, he fights unnecessary and burdensome regulation and advocates for a more restrained federal government. He also serves on numerous other Senate committees, including Finance, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Appropriations, and Indian Affairs. Lankford serves the people of Oklahoma and the nation by integrating his core values of personal faith, local decision-making and opportunity for every person, regardless of their background, into his work both inside and outside of the Senate.