We invite staff, students, and the public to join the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) for the 2025 Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at 10 am (MDT). The ceremony will take place in the Performing Arts and Fitness Center on the IAIA campus. It will be followed by the 2025 Spring IAIA Graduation Powwow in the Dance Circle at the center of campus from 1–5 pm. Both events are free and open to the public.

This year, we are honored to announce that Deb Haaland (Pueblo of Laguna), former United States Secretary of the Interior and 2025 IAIA Honorary Doctorate recipient, will serve as our keynote speaker. Other invited speakers include Beverly Morris (Unangax̂), IAIA Trustee Chair; Loren Kieve (Cherokee), IAIA Trustee Vice-Chair and 2025 IAIA Honorary Doctorate recipient; Dayton L. Ladd (Jicarilla Apache), 2025 IAIA Valedictorian; and Dr. Robert Martin (Cherokee Nation), IAIA President.

“I am proud this year to celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates as they receive their degrees and to have The Honorable Deb Haaland as our keynote speaker,” said Dr. Martin. “Deb Haaland made history as the first Indigenous Secretary of the Interior, and it is a blessing for her to speak to the class of 2024–2025 and send them forward to a lifetime of success and service.”

Parking for the general public will be outside the Performing Arts and Fitness Center. A free lunch will be served in the Café Bon Appétit starting at 12 pm.

About Deb Haaland

Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) served as the first Native Secretary of the Interior under Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025.

Prior to her tenure as Secretary of the Interior, Haaland served as the US representative for New Mexico’s first congressional district from 2019 to 2021 and as chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party from 2015 to 2017.

During her time as Secretary of the Interior, Haaland created a new unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to handle the crisis of missing and murdered Native Americans. She also created the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, to investigate the abuse of Native Americans within the residential boarding school system. It was during Haaland’s tenure that President Biden publicly apologized for the boarding school system.

She is currently running for Governor of New Mexico.

If you are interested to see an IAIA Commencement Ceremony, you can watch the 2024 IAIA Commencement Ceremony below.