President Andrea E. Chapdelaine
Remarks at the 108th Commencement
May 17, 2026
Welcome!
Before we celebrate you, Class of 2026, I want to ask you to join me in expressing gratitude to the people who made this day possible.
To our Board of Trustees: thank you for your steadfast leadership and your unwavering commitment to this institution and to these and every student who walks through our gates.
To our faculty and staff: you are the heart of Conn. Your commitment to excellence in your work and your genuine care for these students has been instrumental in making today possible. Thank you.
To the family members, partners, and friends: you have cheered, sacrificed, worried, encouraged, and loved these graduates across every step of this journey. Thank you.
Graduates, please stand and give the people who made this journey possible a big round of applause.
I also want to acknowledge those who are not with us today. Among them is Jason Askri, whose presence is felt on this campus and whose memory we carry with us today and always. We hold all those we have lost close, especially on these days of celebration.
Class of 2026 — Congratulations!! This is your day and we are all here to celebrate you! And indeed, you are worthy of our accolades.
Among you are:
- 69 first-generation students
- 31 legacy students
- 8 All-American Athletes
- 8 members of the 2024 NESCAC Champion Men’s Soccer Team
- 5 Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows
- 3 Benjamin A. Gilman International Fellows
- 2 NESCAC Women’s Track and Cross Country Individual Champions
- 1 Watson Fellow
- 1 Fulbright Fellow
- 1 John Lewis Young Leadership Fellow
- 1 Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellow
- 1 Academic All-American …
And ALL 512 of you are members of the largest graduating class in Connecticut College history!
You came to Conn from 32 states and 17 countries, bringing with you your diverse experiences and expertise to our hilltop campus.
Class of 2026, I know the world feels a bit like a slip ‘n slide right now. And although today should be one of pure joy, I am sure there is some anxiety as well.
At commencements everywhere, there is an elephant in the room – the nagging doubt about whether you are really ready and whether life will work according to plan.
The answers are yes and no. Yes, you are ready and no, things will not work out as planned, they never do. But that does not matter because you are ready for whatever comes next, planned or not.
Look around you. This is Connecticut College. There are no elephants.
There are camels. And being a camel is the answer.
Yes, camels might be seen as a bit niche and a little weird looking. Yet, the camel is one of the most perfectly engineered survivors on earth. Every feature that seems strange, even impractical, turns out to be exactly what is needed when the terrain gets hard.
Did you know that camels evolved from arctic animals built for snow and ice? The same features that helped them navigate blizzards – wide hooves for rough terrain, long lashes to protect their vision and a gel pack on their back for when resources run scarce – turned out to also be perfectly suited for rocky deserts and sand storms. When their iceberg melted, literally, camels adapted and went on to have many millenia of wonderful adventures.
So when someone asks you what the plan is, you say, no worries, I am a Camel, I got this! Say it with me: I AM A CAMEL! I GOT THIS!
Your hard work has earned you a broad and deep, integrated and interdisciplinary, and a highly sustainable liberal arts education. It may look a bit niche and odd to some at this moment – too general. Not technical enough. Not a straight line to a particular job title. Sort of like a camel at the North Pole.
But, like a Camel, your degree has prepared you for a life full of changes that you cannot predict, challenges that you cannot anticipate, and opportunities that will require knowledge, curiosity and flexibility. Doors will open and you, Camel, will march through, hump held high.
You leave Conn knowing how to think and how to express your thoughts. You leave knowing how to be with others — how to listen, disagree, compromise, collaborate. And most important, you leave with the
curiosity and drive to keep learning and growing.
Indeed, in this fast-changing, AI-driven, globally shaky world, the camel is the right creature for this place and time.
Earlier this year, the heads of Anthropic said that AI will make humanities majors more important, not less.The COO of BlackRock said they need more people who majored in things that have nothing to do with finance or technology. And 93% of U.S. employers agree that a demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than an undergraduate major. Employers want Camels!
Moreover, your Conn degree also comes with a responsibility to put the liberal arts into action. You are ready for that as well.
Richard Detwieler studied liberal arts graduates over several decades. He found that those students who acquired those skills I just mentioned were not only more likely to be successful in their careers, but also were more likely to be continuing their learning, altruistic and civically engaged. Further, they were happier and more satisfied with their life.
In other words, you are ready to have an amazing, unplanned, but purposeful and fulfilling life.
And remember, Camels travel together. You are a member of a herd of more than 25,000 camels! Picture that: 25,000 Camels! Today, you are not leaving the herd behind. Today, you are leaving with the herd behind you.
So go forward with confidence but please come back. We always will want to hear from you and you will be joyously welcomed back to your alma mater home.
So say it with me one more time: I am a Camel and I got this!
Congratulations, Class of 2026!