Commencement 2026

 

The Princeton Companion, knower of all things Princetonian, has this to say about Commencement Day in University history:

At Princeton's first commencement, held in 1748 in the Newark ``meetinghouse'' of which President Aaron Burr was pastor, seven persons took degrees: Jonathan Belcher, royal governor of the Province of New Jersey, who was awarded an honorary master's degree, and six young men who had passed their examinations for the bachelor's degree. These few ``commences'' were the objects of much oratory. At the morning exercises (one of the trustees reported in a New York newspaper), the clerk of the board read in extenso the 3700-word royal charter that Governor Belcher had granted the College. In the afternoon, President Burr delivered from memory an ``elegant Oration in the Latin Tongue'' that lasted three quarters of an hour, and, after public disputations in Latin by the six candidates and the conferring of degrees, the student salutatorian spoke in Latin for half an hour, after which the president prayed in English and dismissed the assembly. These proceedings gave ``universal Satisfaction, even the Unlearned being pleased with [their] Solemnity and Decorum.'' After the College moved to Princeton in 1756, commencement was held in the prayer hall in Nassau Hall until 1764 when more adequate space became available in the First Presbyterian Church's new building. Latin continued to be the language of choice, but, according to contemporary newspaper accounts, the proceedings were enlivened by an occasional speech in English and by music. In 1760, Benjamin Rush``in a very sprightly and entertaining Manner delivered an ingenious English Harangue in Praise of Oratory,'' and the graduating seniors sang two compositions by President Samuel Davies.

Nowhere in that history does it mention anything about an NCAA championship trophy at Commencement, but hey, who could have foreseen that way back then? The three in the photo, by the way, are Jackson Kane, Zach Friedman and John Dunphey. 

Those three are among the 13 Princeton men's lacrosse seniors who are unlikely to ever experience a 30 or so hour stretch like the one they just did. Princeton won the NCAA men's lacrosse championship, the program's seventh, Monday in Charlottesville, Va., with a dominant 16-9 win over Notre Dame. After that came all the celebrations — on the field, in the locker room, at the tailgate, on the bus and then back on campus. 

Did any of them sleep? Or was it straight to Commencement yesterday morning? Either way, they will all get to tell the story forever about how they won the NCAA title one day and graduated from Princeton the next. 

Of course, everyone who wore a cap and gown yesterday in Princeton Stadium has a story to tell. Each story has an individual side to it, of the inevitable struggles and the hard work that went into getting that diploma. These are stories of friendships made, of people thrown together from all over the country and the world, of subjects studied that many of them never would have imagined would intrigue them, of lessons learned that will last forever. 

That applies to every Princeton graduate, every year. For those who were athletes during their time at Princeton, there was a different path, with different kinds of hurdles to clear. In many ways, it's a far greater challenge, with all of the time spent practicing, lifting, recovering, competing, traveling. It's a grind, physically and mentally. 

On the other hand, it definitely forces everyone who undertakes the challenge to figure out how to balance it all. It teaches sacrifice and team-building and accountability and so many other things that can really only be learned through sports on the college level. 

Whatever their individual experiences, that is something they all share. It's something that will stay with them forever, that they will build off of as they go forward in careers and life. 

It's quite a week for all grads, even those who didn't win an NCAA title the day before Commencement. There's Reunions. There's the prom. There's Class Day. There's the graduation ceremony. And then it's over. 

All that's left are the memories, the relationships, the lessons learned. It's Princeton. 

The smiling faces in caps and gowns yesterday may leave the place. Ah, but the place never leaves them.  

Congratulations to them all.