Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis to be Keynote Speaker at Methodist College Commencement

Methodist College will honor its spring 2017 semester graduates with a commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 20 at 10 a.m. at Bethany Baptist Church, 742 North Heinz Lane, Edwards, Illinois. The spring 2017 graduating class includes more than 80 students.

The keynote speaker will be the Honorable Jim Ardis, Mayor of Peoria.  Ardis was recently elected to his fourth term as mayor. He was first elected to the Peoria City Council in 1999. A lifelong Peorian, he graduated from Spalding Institute in 1977. In 1982 he graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology. He is the founder and chairman of the board for Peoria Promise, serves on the board of the St. Jude Midwest Affiliate, and is past board president of the Tim Ardis Foundation for Hope.

Methodist College, an affiliate of UnityPoint Health, can trace its history to 1900 when the deaconesses of the Methodist Episcopal Church opened the Deaconess Home and Hospital and its School of Nursing. In March 2000, Methodist College was established and has grown to an enrollment high of 680 students; four academic departments: Nursing, Arts and Sciences, Human Services, and Career Pathways and Continuing Education; bachelor degree programs in nursing, social work and health science; certificates in nurse assistant, medical assistant, and gerontology; and a master’s degree in nursing education.