Speaker Joe Straus to deliver keynote at Texas State commencement

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
May 9, 2018

SAN MARCOS – Joe Straus, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, will serve as the keynote speaker during commencement at Texas State University on May 12.

There are more than 5,000 candidates for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at Texas State this spring, the largest in school history.

Straus will speak during the 10 a.m. ceremony May 12, to be attended by degree candidates from the McCoy College of Business Administration and the Graduate College.

Speaker Straus is known for his principled and inclusive approach to governing, focusing on providing solutions to the most serious challenges facing Texas. Since 2005, he has been the State Representative from House District 121 in northeastern Bexar County. In 2009, his colleagues in the Texas House unanimously elected him to serve as the body's presiding officer, or speaker, and he has been overwhelmingly re-elected speaker at the start of the last four legislative sessions. Under his leadership, the Texas House has strengthened career readiness in public schools, put more universities on the path to research university status, directed billions of dollars toward transportation and balanced every state budget.

Speaker Straus has also worked to improve mental health care and child protection, and he has pushed to ensure that students with special needs have access to quality educational services. Speaker Straus has received numerous awards and accolades for his genteel leadership style and his focus on bipartisan problem-solving. In 2017, he was named Texan of the Year by the Dallas Morning News.

Speaker Straus is a fifth-generation Texan, a native of San Antonio and a business owner.

While there is no substitute for attending a commencement ceremony in person, Texas State will stream the ceremonies live over the internet for friends and family members who are unable to attend. If needed, Texas State will also provide overflow space for viewing the live stream of the ceremony. That live stream is available on the Texas State commencement web page at www.txstate.edu/commencement.

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,694 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 184,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under “Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity,” the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.