Three days of ceremonies highlighted academic achievement, leadership, service, and historic milestones.
Fairfield University celebrated its 76th Commencement Exercises this weekend, honoring the nearly 2,000 graduates who earned associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees across the University’s academic programs. Three days of ceremonies celebrated the achievements of the Class of 2026 and highlighted several important milestones—including conferral of Fairfield University’s first Doctor of Business Administration degrees.
Fairfield Bellarmine Ceremony: May 14 at the Leo D. Mahoney Arena
The Fairfield Bellarmine Commencement address was delivered by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, author, and educator Marcia Chatelain, PhD, who received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Fairfield University in recognition of her contributions to scholarship, education, and public discourse.
Dr. Chatelain, Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, encouraged graduates to cultivate joy as a sustaining force in their lives and communities. Drawing from conversations with civil rights organizers and Jesuit educators, she spoke about the importance of resilience, humanity, and compassion in a challenging world. “The opposite of joy is not sadness or depression,” she told graduates. “The opposite of joy is contempt.”
“What I want for the Class of 2026,” she said, “is to enhance their joy reserves by way of study, further commitment to learning, friendship, and solidarity.”
Fairfield Bellarmine continues to advance the University’s mission of expanding access to Jesuit Catholic higher education and creating pathways for student success. The associate’s degree program—offering majors in business, computer science, health studies, and liberal studies—has demonstrated strong student success outcomes as well as graduation rates significantly above statewide three-year community college graduation rates.
To view a livestream recording of Fairfield University's Fairfield Bellarmine Commencement, visit fairfield.edu/bellarmine/commencement.
Graduate Ceremony: May 16 at the Leo D. Mahoney Arena
Recognizing advanced degree recipients from the University’s five schools—the College of Arts and Sciences, the Charles F. Dolan School of Business, the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, the School of Engineering and Computing, and the School of Education and Human Development—the graduate Commencement ceremony included conferral of degrees to Fairfield Dolan’s inaugural Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) cohort.
The graduate Commencement address was delivered by Maggie Doyne, global humanitarian, social entrepreneur, and co-founder and chief executive officer of the BlinkNow Foundation. Doyne received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Fairfield University in recognition of her commitment to education, her compassion, and her sustainable community leadership.
The BlinkNow Foundation is a non-profit that supports children and families in Nepal through education, health care, women’s programs, sustainable farming initiatives, and job creation.
Recounting the setbacks and uncertainty that shaped her life’s path, Doyne encouraged graduates to embrace failure and perseverance. “You'll notice that the rejections and the missteps and the failures often become the moments that lead to the greatest accomplishments of your life,” she said.
In one of the ceremony’s more personal moments, Doyne, who never attended college, reflected on the personal significance of receiving an honorary Fairfield degree: “I’m so, so proud to be able to say I'm a graduate of Fairfield University.”
For the livestream recording of Fairfield University’s 76th Commencement graduate ceremony, visit the graduate page of the fairfield.edu/commencement website.
Undergraduate Ceremony: May 17 on Bellarmine Lawn
The Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, delivered the invocation at the undergraduate Commencement ceremony. “Do not let them measure their lives by the applause they earn or the titles they accumulate,” he prayed for the graduates, “but by the love they give and the lives they lift up.”
The Commencement address was delivered by internationally acclaimed footwear designer and entrepreneur Stuart Weitzman, who received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Fairfield University in recognition of his contributions to innovation, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and ethical leadership.
Weitzman encouraged graduates to embrace originality, resilience, and creativity, telling the Class of 2026: “When you leave campus, take with you this one certainty—you are unique. Every one of you has something original to offer. Whatever that is—whatever makes you, you—is going to help you in finding what your meaning is in life.”
Student speaker Tristan DeCrescenzo ’26 reflected on the experiences and relationships that shaped their undergraduate journey, urging his classmates to carry Fairfield’s Jesuit principles into the future because they “challenge us to grow by moving us out of our comfort zone—to serve the community and the greater glory of God.”
Mary Frances Malone, PhD, received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the ceremony, in recognition of her decades of leadership and service to Fairfield University. Dr. Malone served as associate academic vice president from 1993 to 2018, helping to guide the University through significant growth and transformation.
In his remarks, University President Mark R. Nemec, PhD, emphasized Fairfield’s mission to prepare students for lives of leadership and service. “Never forget,” he implored the graduates, “the world needs what you do. Fairfield is blessed to have an approach—a commitment to being a values-based, student-centric, outcomes-focused institution—which calls us to be a model for others.”
For the livestream recording of Fairfield University’s 76th Commencement undergraduate ceremony, visit the undergraduate page of the fairfield.edu/commencement website.
