Mitchell to deliver commencement address to 168 graduates of Quincy University on Saturday

QUINCY — Quincy University will host its 161st commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, at Quincy University’s football stadium, 20th and Sycamore. The 2024 spring graduating class is comprised of 168 graduates — 145 undergraduate and 23 graduate degree recipients.

The procession will be led by university marshal Robert Mejer, distinguished professor of art, and assistant marshals David Kirchhofer and Scott Luaders, professors of physics and chemistry, respectively. Brian McGee, QU president, will confer degrees and provide remarks.

Sarah Vordtriede-Patton, provost and assistant vice president for academic affairs, will convene the ceremony. Jessica Howell, director of campus ministry, will deliver the invocation, and Father John Doctor, OFM, vice president for mission and ministry, will provide the benediction. Choir members James Boettger, Evan Conover, Jesse Mose, Joseph Niemerg and Colby Schulz will perform the National Anthem and the Quincy University alma mater.

Graduates elected senior representative Jesse Mose to deliver the program’s welcome address and reflection. Mose is an organ performance major and a member of QU Symphonic Band, Chamber Choir and Clara Voce. He has been a resident assistant, freshmen orientation leader and involved in campus ministry.

Delmer Mitchell, will be awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Laws during the ceremony, and he will deliver this year’s commencement address. Mitchell is an attorney and past chairman of Schmiedeskamp, Robertson, Neu and Mitchell LLP, a law firm in Quincy He practices in many areas of law including professional malpractice, product liability, condemnation, agribusiness, mergers and acquisitions and corporate and commercial law. Mitchell holds the highest rating from the Martindale-Hubbell legal directory for ethics and legal ability. He has been involved in some of the nation’s largest antitrust cases.

Mitchell is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, the Defense Research Institute, the American Bar Association and the Adams County Bar Association. He has served as an instructor at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, the Harvard University Trial Advocacy Program, the Emory University Trial Advocacy Program, the University of Notre Dame Law Program, the Benjamin N. Cardoza School of Law at Yeshiva University and the Federal Trade Commission.

Mitchell’s honors include being a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Society of Barristers. He was named a “Super Lawyer” by Illinois Super Lawyer Magazine and as an Illinois Leading Lawyer by his peers. He was inducted into the Quincy Area Chamber of Commerce Business Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Quincy University Legal Hall of Fame in 2017. Mitchell has served in a volunteer capacity for a variety of organizations, including being a member of the Quincy University board of trustees from 2011 to present and being chair of the board from 2018-2023.

The commencement ceremony will be live-streamed at

Additional commencement festivities include champagne brunch for graduates at 11 a.m. on May 10 in QU’s main dining room and Baccalaureate Liturgy at 5 p.m. on May 10 in St. Francis Chapel, Francis Hall.