The Class of 2026’s Commencement ceremony opened to a sound that Macalester seniors have gotten to know well over their last four years—the sound of bagpipes. An annual tradition, the Macalester College Pipe Band led the processional in full regalia, with dozens of pipers and drummers leading this year’s graduates into the Leonard Center Field House on Saturday, May 16.
Before the ceremony was through about 475 students would cross the stage and receive their diplomas. It was a celebration marked by reminders of their resilience, the strength of community, and calls to carry Macalester values into an uncertain world.
Physician-scientist Dr. Anthony S. Fauci and bioethicist Dr. Christine Grady delivered a joint keynote address after receiving honorary degrees from the college. Together, they encouraged graduates to strive for excellence in service to society and to be daring in the face of adversity.
Grady, who served for many years as chief of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, emphasized the importance of human connection in a world increasingly defined by social isolation. “These are connections that will persist across space and time,” Grady said. “Cherish them, nurture them, but also welcome the joy and challenge of building on them with new connections.”
Grady is married to Fauci, who spent more than five decades working for the National Institutes of Health. Known for his work in infectious disease research and for advising seven US presidents, he urged graduates to guard against what he called “the normalization of untruths” and the growing acceptance of falsehoods contrary to available evidence.
“Macalester prepared you and has given you the skill to be the antidote and the bulwark against this disturbing trend—what I speak of is the skill of critical thinking,” Fauci said. “You have learned here and will continue to learn how to listen carefully, argue calmly, and without prejudice, detect bias, and consider competing claims with an open mind. These are not just your academic skills. They are your societal responsibilities.”
Those skills—and the importance of Macalester’s mission—are more relevant than ever, President Suzanne Rivera told the audience. She encouraged graduates to leverage the full breadth of their education, embracing the Macalester values of internationalism, multiculturalism, and service to society, to take action and drive meaningful change.
“The world won’t get better on its own. And failing to try to fix what’s wrong, giving up, well, that just concedes defeat,” Rivera said. “Don’t let fear or apathy get in your way. Keep embracing that responsibility, the moral duty to try. You won’t be alone. Your Macalester community will be right there with you.”
Senior class speaker Hamza Hassan Mahamud ’26, a political science major and captain of the track and field team, delivered a speech rooted in hope for a better world, while acknowledging the challenges that they’ve already faced, together. Resilience, he said, will play a key role in their success moving forward.
“I’ve seen resilience on this campus and I see it on the faces of my classmates today,” Mahamud said. “I look at a group of people who see news headlines and are not content with the state of our planet. I see new talent in the sciences, arts, and humanities who believe a world where we love each other more is possible. So long as we carry that belief and the resilience that we have all learned here from each other, a more peaceful world is possible.”
And in a final challenge to his fellow graduates, Mahamud called on the Class of 2026 to work towards a better world while opening doors for others.
“As you walk through a new set of doors, remember to hold them open for people coming behind you,” Mahamud said. “Classes and generations of Macalester graduates before us did the same. And the world depends on those who pay it forward.”