Bennington College Commencement

From: commencement@bennington.edu

To: Bennington Faculty

Dear Faculty,

As Commencement 2026 draws closer, kindly review and use the Bennington College Commencement website, which will be a companion resource for your participation at Commencement. We will be updating it soon with additional information, including the latest schedule and dedicated section for Faculty.

As a next step, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to fill out the 2026 | Bennington College Commencement Participation for Faculty Form by Friday, April 10, 2026 to assist us with our planning. This form will help us consolidate several details: 

• Your Regalia Orders, and
• Your attendance to: Commencement Dinner (Friday, May 29th, 2026).
• Your attendance to: Conferring of Degrees Ceremony (Saturday, May 30th, 2026). 

I will follow up with you in early May with a final overview for your participation. In the meantime, complete the form above and hold the dates of May 29 and May 30 on your calendar for Commencement and next week review the website to familiarize yourself with a more detailed schedule of events. If you have any questions, please reach out to us via commencement@bennington.edu.

Best, 

Nicole Arrington
Director of Special Events

From: commencement@bennington.edu

Dear Seniors, Graduates, and MFA Candidates,

Let me start by sharing the details of our brand new Commencement Portal (for graduates), which will contain all of the key information and action items for you over the coming weeks!

This includes: 

• Three forms you need to complete:
  • Intent to Graduate (due April 1)
  • Required Student Information (due April 2)
  • Guest Registration (due May 1)
• Commencement schedule  
• Commencement webpage (your family’s information hub in the weeks to come)
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Upcoming weather forecast

As a broad outline, on Friday, Commencement Eve, there will be a formal dinner, (with faculty, leadership, board members and speakers,) a menu created for seniors only-- menu option details to follow) and a dessert reception with families to follow the dinner (registration details to follow, four guests per student preferred please). 

The Conferring of Degrees ceremony is on Saturday, Commencement Morning. 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. 

Please trust that I shall be following up with you on a regular basis via email to shepherd you through the process. 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

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.

• 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

• 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