SPRINGFIELD, OH ā The ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ community gathered together for the 176th Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 16, to honor the 262 graduates in the class of 2026. Throughout the ceremony, the graduates were reminded that Commencement is not an ending, but a passing of light from one generation to the next and that this is the moment their light begins to shine beyond campus ā illuminating new paths, new possibilities, and the next chapter of their lives.
A month-long celebration of the class of 2026 culminated with Commencement inside the Pam Evans Smith Arena, part of the Health, Wellness & Athletics Complex, as a result of rainy and windy conditions.
Speakers shared with the graduates that they carry the light they have kindled throughout their time at ¹ū¶³“«Ć½. Each possesses a single unique light shaped by perseverance, curiosity, kindness, growth, and countless moments of determination that can guide, encourage, and inspire others.
Kicking off the ceremony was ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ās 16th President, Dr. Christian M.M. Brady, who offered a special opening welcome and closing remarks in his first commencement ceremony at ¹ū¶³“«Ć½.
āAs you have heard me reference frequently in my first year, ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ University, your soon-to-be alma mater, is and always will be a liberal arts university, and because of this foundation, you are leaving here today prepared not only for your career, but for your calling, thanks to an education that connects purpose, practice, and leadership. Because of ¹ū¶³“«Ć½: You can communicate with clarity, you can ask better questions, you can connect ideas across disciplines, you can see how inquiry, reflection, and understanding guide community interaction, you know how to act ethically in all situations, you embrace an openness of mind, you have a strength of spirit ā the spirit of a Tiger, in fact, and, most importantly, you know how to learn.ā
President Brady was one of many to address the graduates at the ceremony. Other included Vicar Don Humphreys, minister of Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church in Springfield, who provided the invocation and the benediction; keynote speaker, highly successful entrepreneur, and 2001 ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ alumnus Rakesh Tondon; William D. āBillā Edwards, chair of the Universityās Board of Directors and a 1989 alumnus; and Stephanie Morgan-White, class of 1992 and current president of the ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ University Alumni Association. Senior class representatives Alyssa Burnside from Hilliard, Ohio, and Taylor āMooseā Harper from Columbus, Ohio, also shared remarks with their classmates.
Burnside, a psychology and biology double major, was the first to take the podium after President Brady.
āIām honored to stand here today representing the class of 2026,ā she said. āAnd like a lot of you, I came here four years ago with a plan. A very specific plan. I knew exactly who I thought I was, what I wanted to do, and how my college experience was supposed to go. But if thereās one thing ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ has taught me, itās that plans areā¦flexible. Thatās what makes ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ so special. This is a place where youāre allowed to grow. Youāre allowed to change your mind. Youāre allowed to try things, fail, pivot, and try again. And through all of that, you figure out who you actually are, not just who you thought you were supposed to be.
She explained how the ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ community serves as a support system for each and every student.
āFrom the moment we stepped on campus, we became part of something bigger than ourselves,ā she added. āThis is a place where people show up for each other. Where friendships are built in dorms, on the field, in classrooms, and everywhere in between. That sense of community is what made it possible for all of us to grow into who we are today. So, if youāre sitting here thinking your path didnāt go exactly how you planned, it wasnāt supposed to. The changes, the detours, the unexpected opportunitiesā¦those are the things that shaped you.
Burnside added that everyone came to ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ with expectations and today, leaves with experiences, with lessons, with friendships, and with growth.
āAnd maybe most importantly, we leave with a better understanding of ourselves,ā she said. āSo, as we move forward, I hope we carry that with us. The willingness to adapt. The confidence to change direction. And the understanding that not having everything figured out isnāt a weakness, itās an opportunity. Because if ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ has taught us anything, itās that sometimes the best version of your life isnāt the one you planned, itās the one you never saw coming. With that being saidā¦Congratulations, Class of 2026, we made it.ā
Harper, a biology major, echoed Burnsideās words and sentiments in his remarks to his classmates.
āWhen I first came to ¹ū¶³“«Ć½, I did not fully know what I was walking into. Like a lot of us, I arrived with boxes, bags, nervous energy, and a version of myself I was still trying to figure out,ā he relayed. āI was trying to figure out how to land. How to heal. How to trust people again. How to become someone who was not only defined by what had happened before,ā he said. āAnd then, slowly, this place became more than a college. It became a place where I could breathe again. This place gave me something I did not know I needed. It gave me people. People who saw me. People who challenged me. People who made me laugh when life felt heavy. People who reminded me that I was not alone. And over these four years, those people helped me heal wounds I thought I would carry forever.ā
He went on to say that ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ lit a fire in him that he will carry forward into the world.
āNone of us came here as finished products,ā he continued. āWe came here unfinished, uncertain, and maybe a little delusional about how much we could get done in one night. But somewhere between move-in day and today, we changed. ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ās motto says, āHaving light, we pass it on to others.ā For a long time, I thought that was just something schools put on banners to sound deep. But now, after four years here, I understand it differently. The light is not just an idea. It is the person who sat with you when you were struggling. It is the teammate who checked on you after a bad day. It is the professor who saw something in you before you saw it in yourself. It is the friend who made you laugh so hard you forgot, even for a moment, what was weighing on you. It is the memories we made here. The late nights. The big wins. The hard losses. The random conversations that somehow meant everything. The people who made this place feel like home. That is the light. And now, as we leave ¹ū¶³“«Ć½, we do not leave that light behind. We take it with us.ā
Edwards then came to the podium to offer the class of 2026 some words of wisdom.
ā¹ū¶³“«Ć½ is an institution rooted in a mission that speaks to helping students discover their respective callings, being responsible global citizens, and leaving this place to lead personal and professional lives of creativity, service, and integrity. ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ has helped inform the ways you engage the world and challenged you to dig deep, think big, and act with imagination. Now it is time for you to move forward. When asked if she had any instructions for living a life, the poet Mary Oliver said it best: Pay attention, be astonished, and tell people about it. Congratulations.ā
Edwards also introduced the awarding of an honorary degree to Tondon, which included a reading of a citation by Ross Jackson, associate professor of business and economics, director of the M.S. in Analytics Program, and the newly named inaugural dean of ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ās new school of business, policy, and ethics, one of four new schools recently announced. Tondon received an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
Tondon has 20-plus years of experience navigating hypergrowth and global expansion of startups, along with managing strategic acquisitions. He serves as an advisor with Entrepreneurs First, a category-defining global investor in entrepreneurial talent. Tondon, who also has a background in e-commerce, retail, SaaS, AI, and healthcare, has steered through the challenges of sophisticated supply chains, intricate logistics, and high-growth business operations and start-ups. His keynote address focused on the importance of saying āyes.ā
āI came to ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ for pre-med. I had a plan, and I felt like I had a strategy for life. I had a perfectly mapped-out future,ā he said. āI was going to be a doctor. Thatās what you do, when youāre Indian, youāre supposed to be a doctor, or a lawyer or an engineerā¦or youāre a failure. But not studying medicine meant that my perfect master plan for life was completely falling apart. I had no idea what industry Iād end up in. I didnāt know what job Iād be good for. I also learned quickly that I needed to be open to exploring and figuring out who I was and what I truly wanted to be. And I knew Iād have to be more open to things that I wasnāt ever before. This meant, Iād be saying āyesā more. And that one simple principle of saying āyesā more has changed my life.ā
To him, the word yes has a lot of power and is more of a state of mind that has put him in the right places throughout his career.
āThe opportunities that changed my life usually started with me saying āyesā before I felt ready. So, my appeal to you would be to show up. Say āYESā,ā he said. āWhen I look back and think about the important shifts and changes, I realize that every major and meaningful chapter of my life started before I felt ready. But that first didnāt really define my career. It showed me the way. The more āyesā meant more opportunities. And each time I said āyes,ā new doors opened, and Iāve had many of those āpinch meā and incredible moments...And this mindset of always being open to new opportunities and learning to say āyesā more, is what I think you all need, no matter where you go or what you do.ā
He ended by telling the class of 2026 that they are entering a whole new world that rewards yes.
āYouāre graduating into a world thatās changing faster than any generation before you. And with these changes, Iām challenging you to get out of your comfort zone,ā he said. āSay āyesā more. A lot more. Raise your hand. TRY LIKE HELLā¦work harder than anyone you know. In closing, Iāll say this one last time: say āyesā to opportunities; say āyesā to growth; say āyesā to discomfort. If you keep saying āyes,ā eventually success will find you.ā
The conferring of degrees then followed. A total of 123 graduates earned Latin honors in recognition of their exceptional academic pursuits, including 57 graduating summa cum laude, 31 graduating magna cum laude, and 35 cum laude. Twelve students were recognized for having a 4.0 grade point average: Abigail Anderson, Hamburg, New York; Neil Boyles, Ostrander, Ohio; Payton Cronen, Louisville, Kentucky; Meghan Guban, Concord Township, Ohio; Andrew Inks, Morton, Ohio; Meghan McCans, Arcanum, Ohio; Jackson Miller, Westerville, Ohio; Daren Neff, Grove City, Ohio; Jessica Neuerer, Lorain, Ohio; McKayla Pickering, Louisville, Ohio; Joshua Putka, Avon, Ohio; and Caitlyn Shelton, Powell, Ohio.
After the tassel ceremony, graduates were welcomed into ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ās vibrant alumni community by Stephanie Morgan-White, class of 1992 and current president of the ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ University Alumni Association.
Morgan-White encouraged the class to stay connected to ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ by participating in regional alumni chapters and by returning to campus often to remember the past and remain a part of the Universityās future.
āClass of 2026, you did it, congratulations! Many of you may have already realized just how lucky you are to have spent the last few years of your life in this amazing place,ā she said. āIf you havenāt realized it yet, you soon will because you will find yourself missing things that you never thought you would miss. I distinctly remember so many details about my own Commencement day 34 years ago. I remember waking up that morning with a deep pain in my stomach knowing that my life was about to change in so many ways.
āEven though I knew how much I loved Witt, I truly had no idea just how much I would miss it and all the wonderful people with whom I had been sharing my life for the last four years,ā Morgan-White continued. āAs time has passed, I have realized more and more just how thankful I am that I chose to TIGER UP and that I had the opportunity to spend four years of my life here at ¹ū¶³“«Ć½. The decision to attend ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ remains one of the best decisions I have ever made. You will soon realize that ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ will always be home deep in your heart. A light has been growing within you since the first day that you set foot on this campus and guess what? You get to take it with you, and the good news is that it will never leave you. Now you get to take that light and shine it everywhere you go, butā¦ donāt forget where it came from, and donāt ever forget to give ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ credit for it and all that you achieve in your ālife after Witt!ā
President Brady then returned to the podium to deliver closing remarks. He spoke to the graduates about change, faith, God, and carrying the light within forward into the future.
āThis is a time of great change for you. But of course, it is always a time of change. We never stand still, not as individuals or society. In a very real sense, we are always at the cusp of great change, we are always at a pivotal moment in our lives and the lives of those around us,ā he said. āAt the best of times, we tend to only take notice of this fact at certain celebrations like commencement and marriage, as we set out on exciting new stages in our lives. At the worst times, we take notice when great calamity comes upon us. But the truth, the clichĆ© is that every day, every moment āis an ending and a beginning.ā But I donāt say all of this to discourage you or make you feel that there is too much change or that we are simply being swept along in the current of time.
He went on to say that there are positive changes and that each student can be a part of that positivity.
āYou are not only a part of the stream of history, but you are also shaping and directing it. In your time at ¹ū¶³“«Ć½, the University and the world have changed dramatically,ā he said. āIn the last four years, we have had elections and protests, we have all faced financial challenges, and you are on your second university president! Some who began the journey with us four years ago, are not present today. Yet through it all, you have persevered, you have pressed on towards this goal. You have been supported and strengthened by friends, family, faculty, coaches, counselors, and mentors. Through it all, you have shown grace, resolve, and resilience. And you are here. Recent history has shown us better than any class could, the importance of ethical and critical thinking. There is not one problem to be solved, there are many. And this is what you have prepared for.ā
He mentioned the world is before them and that beautiful and terrible things will happen and to not be afraid because God is with us.
āGod is with you and loves you, loves us. And I am not afraid of this world because you are in it,ā he said. āYou are the grace, goodness, and grit that enables a community to meet challenges no matter when or where they arise. You are the science and the discovery, the care and the healing, our researchers, teachers, nurses, and doctors. You are the business leaders and entrepreneurs, artists, poets and professors who bring joy into the world. You are our leaders, who possess integrity and honor. I am not afraid of the terrible things in this world. I am excited and joyful because I know that you are the beauty of this world. Carry your light, let it shine, and pass it on to others.ā
Harper and Boyles, Alma Luxes for the class of 2026, gave a quick congratulatory message to their classmates before leading all those present in the singing of the Universityās Alma Mater.
The class of 2026 included students from California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington, as well as an international student from Uganda.
Degrees awarded included a Bachelor of Arts (166), Bachelor of Fine Arts (2), Bachelor of Science (40), Bachelor of Science in Nursing (19), Master of Arts in Sport Administration (5), Master of Arts in Education (1), and Master of Science in Analytics (5). Thirty students earned departmental honors and 27 University honors. Three students earned two degrees, 46 were double majors, and the most popular majors include accounting, biology, business management, economics, education, exercise science, finance, history, marketing, nursing, psychology, and sport management.
Each student who crossed the stage was also presented with two marbles, which serve as symbols of the light they leave behind at ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ and the light they will take into the world. In a symbolic gesture, students each presented one marble to President Brady as they received their diploma and will now keep the other one as they prepare to lead with light as distinguished ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ alumni.
Immediately following the ceremony, ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ hosted a post reception in honor of the class of 2026 in the 1929 Gymnasium, where graduates and their families were able to enjoy light refreshments and retrieve their diplomas.
The event was streamed live, a recording of which will be available online at www.wittenberg.edu/live later today. For that link and additional Commencement information, click here. Full Flickr gallery of photos coming soon.
