Senator Ben Nelson will be the speaker at College of Saint Mary's winter commencement ceremony. The ceremony takes place on Saturday, December 20th at 5pm. It will be held in Our Lady of Mercy Chapel on the school's campus.

Close to 50 students are scheduled to receive their degrees during the ceremony. The senator’s address for the graduates will focus on the topic of women and leadership.

Senator Nelson was born in the small town of McCook, which is home to three of Nebraska’s governors and two of its senators. He graduated from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln where he considered joining the ministry and even served rural congregations as a lay minister before earning a law degree in 1970. Senator Nelson and his wife, Diane, continue to live in Omaha.

For more information about CSM’s winter commencement, call 402-399-2400.

College of Saint Mary, founded in Omaha in 1923, is the region's only Catholic college for women. With approximately 1,000 students, CSM is dedicated to the education of women in an environment that calls forth potential and fosters leadership. For more information on CSM, visit www.csm.edu.