School name: Williams College

Graduation location/date: Williams College/June 7, 2026

Degrees conferred: 572 Bachelor of Arts, 26 Master of Arts in development economics, 11 Master of Arts in art history.

Honorary degrees: Journalist Dan Harris, Doctor of Humane Letters; Cecile McLorin Salvant, Doctor of Music

Retiring faculty: Karen R. Merrill, professor of history, emerita; Lee Y. Park, William R. Kenan Professor of Chemistry emerita; Lori A. Pedersen, lecturer in mathematics; David J. Zimmerman, professor of economics and Orrin Sage Professor of Political Economy, emeritus.

Valedictorians: Mica Calzolaio, Eve A. Hammerman, Forrest Hu, Abigail S. Wallace

Senior addresses: Mariel Baez, class speaker; Janine Wang, Phi Beta Kappa speaker

Principal speaker: Composer, singer and visual artist Cécile McLorin Salvant

William Bradford Turner Citizenship Prize: Samantha Samuel

Memorable moment: Cécile McLorin Salvant sang. She opened by singing a poem by Hafiz for which she composed the melody.

She urged students to honor the unique qualities in themselves and in others.

“What I’m advocating for ultimately is a kindness that goes both ways,” she said. “That kindness toward yourself, toward what is a little strange within you, is that same kindness with which you can meet the people in the world around you.

“And you can keep giving that kindness both ways, even when you think you have none left to give," she said. "So, I'm going to be most myself right now."

She closed with the song “Somewhere,” from the musical “West Side Story,” with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, who graduated from Williams in 1950. Leonard Bernstein wrote the music.