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. Download and view the 2025 IAIA Commencement Program.

Our keynote speaker and Honorary Doctorate Recipient will be the Honorable Deb Haaland (Pueblo of Laguna and Jemez Pueblo). Loren Kieve (Cherokee Nation), IAIA Trustee Vice-Chair will also be an Honorary Doctorate Recipient. Also speaking will be Dr. Robert Martin (Cherokee Nation), IAIA President, Beverly Wright Morris (Unangax), IAIA Trustees Chair, and Dayton L. Ladd (Jicarilla Apache), 2025 IAIA Valedictorian.

“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 is a fierce leader, repeatedly breaking down barriers for future generations. A 35th generation New Mexican who organized for President Obama and led the New Mexico State Democratic Party, she made an unprecedented run and win as one of the first Native women to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and then made history when she was appointed to serve as Secretary of the Interior.

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.

In all of her roles, her prolific leadership led to accomplishments that make the lives of working families better. She brings her personal experience as a military kid, a single mom, and a Pueblo woman to stand up for working families, Native and underserved communities, and to address the climate crisis. Now, she’s running to be the next governor of New Mexico.