The month of May will bring graduations for area high schools and commencement ceremonies for colleges and universities throughout the state.

Area high school graduations begin at 3 p.m., May 12, with Porters Chapel Academy at the City Auditorium.

Vicksburg High School will hold its graduation at 7 p.m., May 24, at the VHS football stadium.

Warren Central High School will celebrate the Class of 2012 with its graduation at 7 p.m., May 25, at the WCHS football stadium.

St. Aloysius High School will wrap up area graduations with a ceremony at 10 a.m., May 26, at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

A senator, state legislator, federal judge and a variety of business and community leaders are among those who will deliver commencement addresses at the state’s colleges and universities.

University of Mississippi

(9 a.m. May 12, the Grove)

On May 12 U.S. Sen. Roger F. Wicker will deliver the keynote address at the University of Mississippi’s 159th commencement.

Wicker, who was elected to the Senate in 2008, is scheduled to speak at 9 a.m. in the Grove.

This year’s graduating class includes more than 3,000 candidates for undergraduate and graduate degrees.

A Pontotoc native, Wicker was previously elected seven times, beginning in 1994, to represent Mississippi’s First Congressional District in the House of Representatives.

University of Southern Mississippi

(10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., May 11, Reed Green Coliseum)

Chuck Scianna, a 1975 graduate of USM who made a historic financial contribution to his alma mater last year, will give the commencement address at two ceremonies Friday, May 11, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. at Reed Green Coliseum.

Scianna is the president of Sim-Tex, a supplier of tubular goods to the oil and gas industry.

His $5 million gift last July to the university’s Building Better Business campaign will help fund completion of Scianna Hall, the new home of the university’s College of Business. The commitment is the largest one-time gift to the USM Foundation by a Southern Miss alumnus.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the 90,000-square-foot Scianna Hall is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, May 10.

Mississippi State University

(10 a.m., May 12, Humphrey Coliseum)

Mississippi State University will host its spring 2012 commencement at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 12, at Humphrey Coliseum. The university has not released information on its commencement day speaker.

Alcorn State University

(8:30 a.m., May 12, Davey L. Whitney Health, Physical Education and Recreation Complex)

Alcorn State University will hold its 141st Commencement Exercise on Saturday, May 12, at 8:30 a.m. with broadcast executive Xernona Clayton and business mogul Dr. Randall Pinkett to deliver keynote remarks.

Clayton organized events for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference under the direction of Martin Luther King, is a former Atlanta-based talk show host and currently works with Turner Broadcasting.

Pinkett is the chairman and CEO of BCT Partners, a technology and policy consulting firm based in Newark, NJ.

Mississippi College

(7 p.m., May 4; 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., May 5 A.E. Wood Coliseum)

Business executive Dan Grafton and longtime Southern Baptist leader Jerry Rankin will be among Mississippi College’s spring 2012 graduation speakers. Both are MC graduates.

The retired president and CEO of Vertex Aerospace LLC, based in Madison, Grafton will speak to Graduate School ceremonies at 7 p.m. on Friday May 4 at the A.E. Wood Coliseum. An Ellisville native, Grafton worked with the company for 27 years, including 14 years as president. The company provides aerospace support services to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Dr. Jerry Rankin, the president emeritus of the International Mission Board, will speak to two MC graduations on May 5.

The Tupelo native will address the School of Christian Studies and the Arts, the School of Business and the School of Education at 10 a.m. in the A.E. Wood Coliseum. Rankin, who is now a Christian Studies instructor at his alma mater in Clinton, will also speak at 2 p.m. ceremonies for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Science and Mathematics.

Hinds Community College

(10 a.m. and 2 p.m., May 11, Hogg Auditorium in Cain-Cochran Hall)

Speaker of the House Philip Gunn and David Yewell, partner at the office of Yewell Law LLC, will speak at two graduation ceremonies at Hinds Community College May 11.

Gunn is speaking at 10 a.m. to graduates whose last names begin with the letters A through K. Yewell will speak at 2 p.m. to graduates whose last names begin with the letters L through Z.

Gunn is the 61st Speaker of the House and began serving in the Mississippi House of Representatives in 2004. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Mississippi Republican Party and has served as chairman of the Republican House Conference since it was formed in 2006.

Yewell, a 1962 Hinds graduate, has been practicing law for more than 40 years. He currently counsels clients through Yewell Law LLC in Owensboro, Ky. Yewell received his associate’s degree from Hinds, his bachelor’s degree from Transylvania University and his Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Belhaven University

(9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Saturday, Christ United Methodist Church, Jackson)

Graduating students from Belhaven University will be honored at the Jackson Spring Commencement Ceremony April 28, with the undergraduate students’ ceremony at 9:30 a.m., and graduate students’ ceremony at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. Bob Doll will be the commencement speaker for the morning graduation ceremony. Doll is the Chief Equity Strategist and Senior Portfolio Manager at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm.

Judge James E. Graves Jr. will be the commencement speaker for the afternoon graduation ceremony. Judge Graves is a United States Circuit Judge in the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He is the first black judge from Mississippi to serve on the Fifth Circuit and was appointed by President Barak Obama.

Millsaps College

(9:30 a.m., May 12, Millsaps College Bowl)

The 118th commencement at Millsaps College is scheduled 9:30 a.m., May 12 at the Millsaps College Bowl in Jackson.

The college announced this year they will continue a tradition that began in 2011, with the commencement address delivered by the recipient of the Millsaps College Founders’ Medal, an honor awarded to the graduating senior with the highest grade point average and an excellent on comprehensive examinations.

Also participating in the Ceremony will be the recipient of the Frank and Rachel Anne Laney Award, who will read a portion of his or her award-winning essay. The Laney Award is given to the graduating senior who has written the finest essay reflecting the value of a Millsaps liberal arts education.

New this year will be a graduate speaker from the Else School of Management.

The winners of the 2012 Founders’ Medal and Laney Award will be announced at the Ceremony.