About 300 graduating seniors will receive bachelor's degrees from Knox College during Knox's 169th Commencement exercises on Saturday, June 7. The ceremony will be at 10 a.m. on the South Lawn of Old Main on the Knox College campus.

The Commencement speaker is Natasha Trethewey, 19th Poet Laureate of the United States. Trethewey, who was named U.S. Poet Laureate in June 2012, is a Pulitzer Prize winner for her 2006 collection of poetry, Native Guard. She is Robert W. Woodruff Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University and has been featured on PBS NewsHour in its "Where Poetry Lives" reporting project.

Her speech has been selected by NPR as one of the "25 Most Promising Graduation Speeches Of The Year."

Trethewey will be one of three honorary degree recipients at Commencement, along with anthropologist Alan Harn and jazz legend Ramsey Lewis.

Here are six other things to know about Commencement.

1. You don't need a ticket to attend Commencement -- unless it's moved indoors. The Commencement ceremony is free and open to the public. In case of severe weather, the ceremony will be in T. Fleming Fieldhouse, and guests will need tickets.
2. You can watch Commencement live online. If you can't be on campus that day, tune in to the Knox YouTube channel to witness Commencement as it happens.
3. The outside temperature will be above freezing. That much, we can probably guarantee. Let's hope for mild and sunny weather.
4. Fireworks will fly on Friday. The night before Commencement, June 6, graduating seniors and their guests will be treated to a campus fireworks display, starting at 9:30 p.m. on the lawn north of the tennis courts.
5. Check out the traditional Concert on the Lawn. The award-winning Knox-Galesburg Symphony, led by conductor Bruce Polay, will perform a free outdoor concert, open to the public. It starts at 5 p.m. Saturday, June 7, on the South Lawn of Old Main. In case of severe weather, the concert will be in T. Fleming Fieldhouse.
6. We'd love to see your Commencement photos. If you're on Twitter or Instagram, please share your Knox Commencement photos and experiences using #knoxgrad.

For more details about Commencement, please check www.knox.edu/commencement.