Bennington College Commencement
SAVE THE DATE! Commencement Weekend is May 29th and May 30th! We kick-off the Commencement process in early December so please check the website then to facilitate your planning. Note: all seniors and family members will be prompted in this step and throughout the entire graduation process via email.
This website is under construction for Bennington College’s ninety-first Commencement ceremony to celebrate the Class of 2026.
*This website is under construction!*
Don't miss a thing! Be sure to check your @bennington.edu email regularly for all communications. Details regarding Commencement will be shared via our official email (commencement@bennington.edu), a forthcoming Commencement Portal (coming soon!), and posted to this website under the tab Email Communications. READ YOUR EMAILS!
*Coming soon!*
December (Email to Graduates)
December 10th, 2025: Commencement: Save The Date
From: commencement@bennington.edu
Dear Seniors, December Graduates, and MFA Candidates,
As the Director of Special Events, I oversee Commencement and many other major institutional events each year. I want to assure you that we work diligently to create a celebration that is both meaningful and memorable for you.
As we approach the end of the term, I’m writing with important Commencement news. As you may know, Commencement will take place May 29–30, 2026. Please save the date.
Throughout the spring term, I will guide you through every step of the graduation process. I’ll reach out via email—please be sure to read these messages—and we will also share information through our upcoming Commencement portal, which will include a comprehensive FAQ, covering cap and gown ordering, guest guidelines and registration, logistics, rehearsal and weather planning, and more.
Two especially important points to keep in mind at this time are:
- Our commencement guest policy
- Friday night dessert reception - 4 guests per student preferred.
- Saturday morning conferring of degrees ceremony - Open seating.
- If your family will be traveling and you would like to begin making arrangements, our visit page is available for your convenience.
- However, please consider in your planning that if we have severe weather we will have to switch to our severe weather procedures which will mean the following:
- Friday night - guest capacity can remain the same.
- Saturday morning - due to safety regulations and capacity for our Greenwall Auditorium, each student can have a maximum of 2 guests in person and the remaining guest party will be allocated seating at livestream sites around our campus. Note: We had to implement our weather policy for the first time in 20 years in 2025, and they may affect your planning and guests’ experience.
You will hear from me again during the third week of the spring term, when we will launch the Commencement Checklist—your step-by-step guide to completing all requirements and preparing for a smooth and celebratory graduation. In the meantime, if you need to reach me, please email commencement@bennington.edu.
Wishing you a very happy and healthy holiday season!
Nicole Arrington
Director of Special Events
NOTE: A copy of this email will be sent to your family members of contact on file for their planning purposes.
*Please check this website shortly for more detailed information. Note: You will be prompted to all required action and sent the most relevant information via email.
*Please check back in the spring for more detailed information. Kindly know you will be prompted to action via Faculty Notes and/or email.
*Kindly check back in the Spring for more detailed information.
Livestream links to Commencement 2026 will be shared in the week prior to or the week of Commencement!
Past Coverage
- 2025 Commencement Eve and Commencement Day coverage with Kyle Abraham.
- 2024 Commencement Eve and Commencement Day coverage with Safiya Sinclair '10.
- 2023 Commencement Eve and Commencement Day coverage with Sofia Alvarez '07.
- 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
- 2025 | Kyle Abraham
- 2024 | Safiya Sinclair '10
- 2023 | Sofia Alvarez '07
- 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