Taylor University will host its 180th Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 23 at 9:30 a.m. in the Kesler Student Activities Center.
Seating will be available starting at 8:30 a.m., with no tickets required for entry. The university website confirmed ample seating will be available for all graduates and guests.
The school will confer degrees on 499 graduates and plans to recognize honorary doctorate recipient Theresa Wagler. She will receive a doctorate of business administration, honoris causa, Noah Ross, deputy chief of staff, said.
“(Wagler) is a strong business leader who is committed to Christ and is a great example of what Christian leadership looks like intentionally lived out,” Ross said.
Following her degree conferral, Wagler will offer remarks and encouragement to the class.
President D. Michael Lindsay spoke highly of the class of 2026, noting the remarkable energy and momentum they brought to campus.
“I have had the joy of getting to know many of these seniors through having them in class or inviting them into our home, and I have been so impressed by their commitment to the Lord, their care for one another, and the seriousness with which they have prepared for lives of service,” Lindsay said in a written statement. “I’m so proud of these students and can’t wait to see how the Lord will work in each of their lives to minister His redemptive love, grace, and truth to a world in need.”
Lindsay will deliver this year’s commencement address, accompanied by Hannah Wylie, a senior theatre & English education major, who will deliver the senior address.
Wylie, representing 499 graduates, plans to focus on what the class has already done and what they have yet to accomplish.
“We’ve already done so many things and learned and become and grown and done these things, but we’re also, like, 22 years old, and so there’s a lot we have not yet done,” she said. “But Christ also says that we live in this already-not-yet space where both the already and the not yet are true.”
As students prepare to leave Taylor and start a new life, it can feel overwhelming, she said. The goal of her speech is to remind the class that God is in control of what is to come.
Wylie is considering moving overseas and teaching theatre and English in Thailand after Taylor. This brings both excitement and nerves, she said.
“But I think that no matter what comes, it’s from the Lord. It’s not me,” she said. “What comes is from Him, and so it’s my responsibility to give it over to Jesus to open my hands and surrender.”
Wylie also hopes to call to mind a formative moment from the class’s freshman year: the passing of classmate Connor Phillips two months into the Fall semester.
She said this was a shaping way for them to begin their freshman year that none of them expected.
“I think we’d be remiss not to remember Connor Phillips,” Wylie said. “So I think we would want to honor him and let his name be remembered as we leave.”
Fourteen students will receive Master of Arts degrees, with 486 earning bachelor’s degrees: 274 Bachelors of Science, 197 Bachelor of Arts, 10 Bachelor of Fine Arts, five Bachelor of Music and one Associate of Arts degree, Vince Small, assistant registrar at Taylor, said.
Furthermore, two graduates completed two bachelor’s degrees, and 31 students completed requirements for at least two majors.
A total of 268 women and 231 men will graduate. The class represents 30 U.S. states and 26 foreign countries, including Ethiopia, Myanmar, Romania, South Korea and Switzerland, Small said.
A total of 319 students will graduate with honors. Among them, 97 students attained summa cum laude honors, 140 earned magna cum laude and 82 earned cum laude. Additionally, 14 students are on track to graduate with perfect 4.0 GPAs.
As is tradition, graduates will receive Bibles and servant towels, which Brookshire said symbolize Taylor’s culture of servant leadership.
The event will conclude with a choral benediction and recessional by Taylor Sounds, Brookshire said.
"Commencement is one of the most meaningful moments in the life of a university because it represents the fulfillment of years of growth, perseverance, and transformation,” Provost Jewerl Maxwell said. “It is not simply the conclusion of a degree program, but the celebration of a community that has invested together in learning, faith, discipleship, and service."
The class of 2026 will join nearly 28,000 Taylor alumni as they prepare to step into careers, callings and communities beyond the campus they have called home for the past four years.
For more details and livestream access for the ceremony, visit https://www.taylor.edu/events/commencement/
