U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, who has represented Maryland in Congress for more than three decades, will be the featured speaker at the commencement ceremony for Hood College’s Class of 2024.

Cardin is serving his third and final term in the U.S. Senate. He decided in May 2023 that he would not seek reelection in 2024.

The ceremony is scheduled for May 18. It will be the 127th commencement in the history of Hood College.

Before he was elected to Congress, Cardin represented Baltimore City in the Maryland House of Delegates.

From 1987 to 2007, Cardin represented Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 2007, Cardin took over as one of Maryland’s two U.S. senators.