"You do not leave this place behind. You carry it with you: every candle you've lit here, every prayer you've offered, every moment of grace you've received.
It's all part of you now."
We love you, Class of 2026. We can't wait to celebrate with you this weekend! ☘️
Due to the high probability of heavy rain and lightning tomorrow morning, the 2026 Graduate School Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 16 has moved to the Compton Family Ice Arena.
Academic regalia is required for all procession and ceremony participants. Arrival, line-up, and procession times remain the same.
This does not affect the University Commencement Ceremony scheduled in Notre Dame Stadium on Sunday, May 17.
Meet Martin Soros, the class of 2026 Valedictorian.
He'll deliver the valedictory address on Sunday and graduate with a degree in civil engineering with minors in theology and education, schooling, and society.
@nd_ceees@ess_notredame@ndtheology
“Education is your way out of poverty. It’s the only way to break the generational cycle.”
For Eva Romero, that belief shaped every step of her journey — from long bus and train rides across Chicago for better educational opportunities to researching solutions for low-income students at @LEOatND .
At Notre Dame, Eva combined her passions for economics, data science and dance, while staying committed to one goal: helping create opportunities for communities like the one she grew up in.
This weekend, she graduates with a degree in economics and minors in accountancy and data science. ☘️
Get to know Allison Elshoff, the class of 2026 salutatorian.
She'll graduate Sunday with a major in business analytics and minors in the Hesburgh Program in Public Service, the Business Honors Program and impact consulting.
@notredamebusiness@artslettersND
Somewhere along the way, Mustafa Hess stopped trying to “finish” college and started fully experiencing it.
That meant saying yes to the side quests: Bengal Bouts, checking out the observatory, countless @DunneHall events, 🇫🇷 studying abroad in France, and research through the @KelloggInstitute .
While saying "yes," Mustafa found that some of the most meaningful parts of Notre Dame happened outside the syllabus. It's in the people he met, the risks he took, and the experiences he never planned for.
This weekend, he graduates with a major in global affairs with minors in peace studies and French ☘️
Meet @timothyshriver , the class of 2026 Laetare Medalist:
Here's five things you didn't know about the chairman of @specialolympics . He'll receive the oldest and most prestigious honor given exclusively to American Catholics at commencement on Sunday.
Trust that the things you’re passionate about will lead you somewhere meaningful.
As a first-generation college student, Lizbeth Cordova Lopez has spent her time at Notre Dame researching how incarceration impacts families — especially children with incarcerated parents — while mentoring others and serving her community along the way.
Her goal: create spaces where young people feel supported, seen, and hopeful about their future.
This weekend, she’ll graduate from Notre Dame with a degree in psychology with a supplemental major in @ess_notredame . ☘️
For Charlie Desnoyers, curiosity led to discovery.
He's spent nearly as much time in the lab as in the classroom since arriving on campus. He's collaborated with faculty members on a testing protocol for fentanyl test strips and a method for isolating extracellular vesicles.
That curiosity earned the chemistry major the Dr. Norbert L. Weich Award for undergraduate research, with Professor Paul Bohn calling him “smart, innately curious and genuinely excited about research.”
This weekend, Charlie will graduate before heading to Northwestern University to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry where he will continue investigating questions regarding light-matter interactions at the nanoscale starting this fall.
“We weren’t just learning about sustainability — we were living it.”
Meet Bernice Antoine ☘️
While at Notre Dame, Bernice turned her passion for sustainability into real-world impact.
She researched sustainable waste management solutions for the Caribbean, launched new @sustainablend initiatives and founded Planet Plate to help reduce food waste on campus.
Her ultimate goal? Establishing the first sustainable waste management company in her home country of Trinidad and Tobago.
This weekend, Bernice will graduate with a degree in business analytics and triple minors in sustainability, social entrepreneurship and innovation, and the Business Honors Program.
A mother’s connection to her child is more than emotional ... it's cellular ❤️
Cells exchanged between a mother and child during pregnancy can remain in the body for decades. It's a phenomenon known as microchimerism.
At Notre Dame, biological anthropologist Kristine Joy Chua is studying what these lasting cellular connections could mean for human health.
Learn more at the link in our bio.
#MothersDay #NotreDame #baby #micro #microchimerism
