Bennington College Commencement

Information for Graduates and Families

Following are several details to help you plan:

• Guests. Up to four guests per student may attend the Dessert Reception. There is no guest cap per student on the Conferring of Degrees event or its reception. 
• Live Streaming. All events will be live streamed to include student, family, and friend participation in real time. 
• Health and Safety. We ask that all visitors to campus be vaccinated against COVID-19. We are a mask friendly campus, but if you are exhibiting symptoms of COVID, please refrain from coming to campus. Please note these guidelines are subject to change depending up what is happening at the state, local and campus level. Review our COVID-19 Updates and Information website for more details. 
• Commencement Fee. The $85 graduation fee helps offset the cost of your graduate's dinner, diploma and cover, and any necessary cap and gown rental. This fee will be billed in the spring.
• Student houses close for graduates at 4:00pm on June 3rd. For any further inquiries regarding move out time and process please contact Christine Congelosi-Lulla, Assistant Director for Housing.   

Commencement Schedule

Commencement Weekend (June 2 & 3, 2023)

*= final times to be confirmed;  we should allow 15 mins flex minimum

Afternoon:

In years past, Music and Dance Concerts have been held at this time. Details to be confirmed and forthcoming shortly.

Commencement Eve: 

Friday, June 2, 2023
Note: Students and faculty will be playing music throughout subject to musical arrangements by Joe Alpar.

*5:30 - 6:15 pm Red Carpet & Photo Booths | Walk the red carpet and strike a pose in either or both (!) of the photo booths.                                                                    

*6:15 - 7:00 pm Formal Senior Commencement Dinner | This dinner is for our seniors only, with faculty, board of trustees, leadership, senior speaker, and working staff.

Dress is formal—Bennington Best! Boas will be provided!
Commons Lawn, under the tent

*7:00 - 7:30 pm Addresses
Senior speaker address, faculty toast to class
Commons Lawn, under the tent
Live streamed

*7:30 - 8:30 pm Dessert Reception with Seniors & Families
Student Center | With families, faculty and staff.

*8:30 pm ++ Night Garden 
Opens at dusk, closes at dawn | Follow the luminarias.

Commencement Morning: 
Saturday, June 3, 2023

10:00 am Conferring of Degrees Ceremony | 10:00 am Sharp! 
Light reception to follow: a moment of celebration, last pics and fond farewells.
End of the World

**We reserve the right to change programming based on changes in weather, safety, CDC guidelines, or COVID-19 guidelines issued by the state of Vermont.

March 23, 2023 | Commencement Schedule and Overview

Dear Seniors, Graduates, and MFA Candidates,

I would very much like to thank the group of seniors, faculty, and staff from the Commencement Planning Committee for their rich participation and good faith partnership on all things Commencement. It was a delight to work with them all! 

Let me start by sharing the details of the Commencement schedule.

As a broad outline, on Friday there will be a formal dinner, with a menu created by Chef Steve, for seniors only (with faculty, leadership, board members and speakers, menu option details to follow) and a dessert reception with families (registration details to follow, four guests per student please). The evening closes with a nighttime stroll through the Night Garden, which is open to all. 

The Conferring of Degrees ceremony is on Saturday. No tickets are required for the graduation ceremony but seating is first-come, first-served so let your guests and family members know to arrive early if they want to sit close to the front and together.. 

COVID guidelines will be forthcoming in the next week and shared with all. Note: We will also share this entire email with your families for their planning purposes.

The Commencement webpage will serve as your information hub in the weeks to come. Please trust that I shall be following up with you on a regular basis via email to shepherd you through the process. Future emails will focus on important steps such as cap and gown ordering (next week), registration for family members (late April), seating and menu option requests (early May), and more. I thank you for your patience as we move through these details together. I’ve found that the compartmentalizing of the requests assists with the efficiency of work and service.So, please read those emails!

If you have any questions, please direct them to me at commencement@bennington.edu. I look forward to assisting you through all things Commencement. Congratulations to you all on your accomplishment and best of luck for the remainder of the spring term! 

Warmly,

Nicole Arrington
Director of Special Events 

Past Coverage

• 2022 Commencement Eve and Commencement Day coverage with Jericho Brown.
• 2021 Commencement Eve coverage with Darren Walker and Commencement Day coverage 
• 2020 Commencement Eve coverage with Nigel Poor ’86 and Commencement Day coverage 
• 2019 coverage with Mountain Man
• 2018 coverage with Liz Lerman
• 2017 coverage with Cornell William Brooks
• 2016 coverage with Jane Chu
• 2015 coverage with Gloria Steinem
• 2014 coverage with Johnnetta Cole

Past Commencement Speakers

• 2022 | Jericho Brown
• 2021 | Darren Walker
• 2020 | Nigel Poor ’86
• 2019 | Mountain Man (Molly Erin Sarlé ’12, Amelia Meath ’10, and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig ’09)
• 2018 | Liz Lerman
• 2017 | Cornell William Brooks
• 2016 | Jane Chu
• 2015 | Gloria Steinem
• 2014 | Dr. Johnnetta Cole
• 2013 | Elizabeth Coleman
• 2012 | Peter Dinklage ’91
• 2011 | Tim Daly ’79
• 2010 | Melissa Rosenberg ’86
• 2009 | Hendrick Hertzberg
• 2008 | Rebecca Tinsley
• 2007 | Mac Maharaj
• 2006 | Glen Van Brummelen
• 2005 | Jonathan Lethem ’86
• 2004 | Shirin Ebadi
• 2003 | Edith Velmans
• 2002 | Meredith Monk
• 2001 | Rick Moody
• 2000 | Gay McDougall ’69
• 1999 | Peter Hedges
• 1998 | Linda Wertheimer
• 1997 | Jane Alexander
• 1996 | Mark Gearan
• 1995 | Irene Borger ’71
• 1994 | Harvey Lichtenstein ’53
• 1993 | Kay Crawford Murray ’56
• 1992 | Harvey Fierstein
• 1991 | Harvey Gantt
• 1990 | Joan Tower ’61
• 1989 | Ellen McCulloch-Lovell ’69
• 1988 | Elizabeth Frank ’67
• 1987 | Barbara Lazear Ascher ’68
• 1986 | Tillie Olsen
• 1985 | Elizabeth Swados ’73
• 1984 | Howard Nemerov
• 1983 | Frederick Wiseman
• 1982 | Joseph S. Murphy
• 1981 | Bernard Malamud
• 1980 | Elizabeth Swados ’73
• 1979 | Vivian Gornick
• 1978 | Mitchell Markowitz ’75
• 1977 | Elizabeth Holtzman
• 1976 | Joseph S. Iseman
• 1975 | Carol Channing ’42
• 1974 | Thomas Brockway
• 1973 | Senior readings and performance
• 1972 | Jimmy Garrison
• 1971 | Anaïs Nin
• 1970 | Kurt Vonnegut
• 1969 | Denise Levertov
• 1968 | Thomas P.F. Hoving
• 1967 | Russell Baker
• 1966 | Howard Nemerov
• 1965 | Gene Baro
• 1964 | William Sloane Coffin, Jr.
• 1963 | David Riesman
• 1962 | Kenneth Burke
• 1961 | Henri Peyre
• 1960 | Francis Fergusson
• 1959 | George Boas
• 1958 | Jacques Barzun
• 1957 | Alvin Eurich
• 1956 | Howard M. Jones
• 1955 | W. Averell Harriman P ’40
• 1954 | Franklin Ford
• 1953 | Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
• 1952 | Harry Allen Overstreet
• 1951 | Mary Josephine Shelly
• 1950 | Reinhold Niebuhr
• 1949 | Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey
• 1948 | Erich Fromm
• 1947 | Lewis Webster Jones
• 1946 | Reinhold Niebuhr
• 1945 | Justice Frank Murphy
• 1944 | Alexander Meiklejohn
• 1943 | Robert D. Leigh
• 1942 | William Batt
• 1941 | Robert Lynd
• 1940 | Henry Wallace
• 1939 | Dorothy Canfield Fischer
• 1938 | Frederick Lewis Allen
• 1937 | W.H. Kilpatrick
• 1936 | No commencement speaker