2026 Graduates Celebrated in Diploma Ceremony
The Department of English community gathered on Saturday, May 9, for the 2026 Commencement of both undergraduate and graduate students.
Dr. Christopher Warren, Professor, overseeing the ceremony for the first time as Head of English, kicked things off, extending gratitude to the assembled faculty, families, friends, and students present, who filled McConomy Auditorium to capacity.
The graduating Ph.D. students were then hooded by professors who served on both of their dissertation committees. Julie Kidder was hooded by Professor Sarah Hae-In Idzik and Ben Markey was hooded by Professor David Brown. Both Julie and Ben received their Ph.D. in Rhetoric. Julie will join the faculty of the Evergreen State College, and Ben will join the faculty of Ohio State University.
While not present at the ceremony, Baron Glanvill (Literary & Cultural Studies) and Nicole Tanquary (Rhetoric) also received their doctoral degrees.
The graduate student speaker, Brandon Teola, M.A. Professional Writing, then delivered his speech, speaking about the possibilities opened by studying English: “Instead of following a single, predictable path, we get to rewrite the script, face hundreds of forks in the road, and veer off into trails completely undiscovered.”
Associate Professor Kathy M. Newman then called the names of the graduate students receiving diplomas. 21 students received the Master of Arts degree.
The ceremony moved on to the undergraduate students, with Literature & Culture major Hannah Rose Schager delivering remarks. To her fellow graduates, Schager advised, “I hope that, whatever awaits us, we bring to our futures the same curiosity and rigor that this department asked of us every day.”
Professor Jane Bernstein called out the names of the undergraduate students receiving diplomas. 76 students received Bachelor’s Degrees, with many of them receiving either an additional major or a minor from the department in one or more of the following: Creative Writing, Film and Visual Media, Literature and Culture, Professional Writing, HumAn, Technical Writing, and Gender Studies.
Public Humanities Special Faculty Dr. Ed Simon – also a graduate of the department, M.A. LCS ‘07 – then delivered his remarks on “Three Lessons of the Humanities,” covering perspectives of the humanities through time, spanning from George Orwell’s 1984 to Taylor Swift’s 1989. His key points were that all is worthy of observation, that everything has a contingent and evolving history, and that the humanities will always exist.
Dr. Warren delivered the closing remarks, congratulating the students once more before bagpiper Sean Patrick Regan escorted the graduates out, leading them and their assembled guests to a reception in the Schatz Dining Room.
Additional Links:
Program: Click here to view
Video: Click here to watch the ceremony
Speeches: