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Order of Procession

A Letter From the President

Dear Members of the Class of 2026:

To the Class of 2026: congratulations. No matter what your path was to this moment—and every journey is different—you made it. On this day, in this place, you hold a Monmouth University degree. You earned it, and we couldn’t be prouder.

And to the families, friends, and loved ones who share in this day: you helped make it possible. Whether you supported these graduates from across the country or from the next seat over, your presence here means everything. This accomplishment belongs to you as well. Congratulations!

You graduate from a university that is stronger than the one you entered. During your four years, Monmouth earned its highest-ever national ranking, achieved Carnegie Research University status, and this spring, was designated a National University by U.S. News & World Report—a milestone that has been years in the making. You were here for all of it. That progress is part of your story, and you are part of ours.

Now the question belongs to you. You leave here with more than a credential—you leave with new abilities: to think, to analyze, to engage a complicated world with integrity and purpose. The world needs exactly that. Our challenges are real and urgent, and we need educated, motivated people ready to meet them. I hope you will.

But I also hope you will not feel the weight of that responsibility as a burden. My deepest wish for each of you is that you find fulfillment—the kind that is yours alone. And when you do, I hope you look back on this place as somewhere that helped you find it.

On behalf of everyone at Monmouth University: congratulations, Class of 2026. You will always be welcome here.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President

Distinguished Teacher Award 2026 Recipient
Melissa A. Brzycki, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, History and Anthropology

Dear Graduating Class of 2026,

Congratulations on finishing your degree, Class of 2026! You should be proud of yourself. Take the time to celebrate this accomplishment with your loved ones.

I hope that you have learned many things while at Monmouth: the content and skills taught in your classes; the applications of knowledge in your research projects, service learning, or internships; and the brain-fortifying pleasure of wrangling difficult and complex knowledge and making it your own.

I also hope that you learned other, more abstract lessons. I hope that you have learned that you are capable of hard things. You have done hard things while you have been here, and you have succeeded, and you can do that again.

I hope that your time here has taught you to understand the world and recognize its difficult truths. I hope that you can recognize the inequalities and cruelties of this world, take action to make them better in your own way, and integrate that work into a joyful and satisfying life.

I hope you have gained appreciation for the importance of community and relationships of care. I hope that you have created meaningful and lasting bonds that you will carry forward after graduation, and that you will also continue to create strong relationships and build community for the rest of your life.

I also hope you will come back and visit your old professors once in a while. We would love to see you.

Congratulations!

Graduate Candidates

Doctoral Degrees

Master’s Degrees

Academic Regalia

The colors you will see in the hoods of our faculty represent the various fields in which the degrees were taken:

• Apricot – Nursing
• Brown – Fine Arts
• Citron – Social Work
• Crimson – Journalism
• Dark Blue – Philosophy
• Golden Yellow – Science
• Green – Medicine
• Lemon-Yellow – Library Science
• Light Blue – Education
• Orange – Engineering
• Pink – Music
• Purple – Law
• Sage Green – Physical Education
• Salmon Pink – Public Health
• Scarlet – Theology
• Yellow-Brown: Commerce, Business, Accounting
• White – Arts, Letters, Humanities