This story was originally published in Rhode Island Current, a publication partner of Ocean State Stories.
Commencement season is here in Rhode Island, with college seniors and graduate students preparing to don caps and gowns before striding briefly onto stage and grabbing their diplomas or postgraduate degrees.
But before they do that, the Class of 2026 will hear send-off speeches from a mix of notables at commencement ceremonies across the state.
Here’s a look at who’s taking the mic this year.
Community College of Rhode Island: Dan Barry
CCRI’s commencement ceremony is slated for Tuesday, May 12, at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist and author Dan Barry will give the commencement address. Barry and the late judge Frank Caprio will receive honorary degrees from the school — the first-ever such honors awarded by CCRI.
“Why should four years get all the glory when it comes to honorary degrees, right?” CCRI Chief of Staff Amy Kempe wrote in an email to Rhode Island Current.
Rhode Island College: Darlene Allen (undergraduate) and Elizabeth Beisel (graduate)
Rhode Island College’s 172nd commencement will include an advanced degree ceremony on Thursday, May 14, at 5:30 p.m. at the Recreation Center on RIC’s Providence campus. The baccalaureate degree ceremony follows on Saturday, May 16, at 10 a.m. at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in downtown Providence.
The undergrads will hear from Darlene Allen, the CEO and executive director of Adoption Rhode Island.
Three-time Olympian and musician Elizabeth Beisel was originally scheduled to speak at the undergraduate ceremony, but could not attend due to travel reasons, RIC announced Monday. Beisel, who won two Olympic medals, hails from Saunderstown and currently works as a swimming commentator for NBC and ESPN. She will still address graduate students at their ceremoby via video.
Bryant University: Amy C. Edmondson (undergraduate) and Frank Hauck (graduate)
Bryant’s graduate commencement is set for Thursday, May 14, at 5 p.m., with undergraduate commencement following on Saturday, May 16, at 10 a.m. Both ceremonies will take place on Bryant’s Smithfield campus.
Frank Hauck, a business leader whose career has included Digital Equipment Corporation, will deliver the graduate address.
Amy C. Edmondson, a Harvard Business School professor known for her work in psychological safety and teamwork, will speak at the undergraduate ceremony and receive an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration.
Glenn Creamer, co-founder of Providence Equity Partners, will also receive an honorary degree at the undergraduate ceremony.
Salve Regina University: Ray Suarez
The Newport school’s graduate commencement will take place on its campus and is set for Thursday, May 14, at 3 p.m. on the McAuley Hall lawn. The undergraduate commencement follows on Sunday, May 17, at 10 a.m. in the same location.
Veteran broadcast journalist and author Ray Suarez, who is known for NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” PBS NewsHour, and Al Jazeera America’s “Inside Story,” will deliver the undergraduate keynote and receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.
University of Rhode Island: Marc Randolph
Rhode Island’s largest public university will host its 2026 commencement weekend from May 15 through 17 at the Ryan Center on its Kingston campus. There are separate ceremonies for the campus’ different colleges, with different honorary degree recipients at each ceremony.
Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, will serve as keynote speaker for the College of Business ceremony on Friday, May 15, at 4 p.m.
Daniel L. Harple Jr., chair and CEO of Context Labs, will be honored during the College of Engineering ceremony on Saturday, May 16, at 5 p.m.
Finally, Katherine Angell Brewster, the CEO of the Jonnycake Center for Hope in South Kingstown, will receive an honorary degree during the Feinstein College of Education ceremony on Sunday, May 17, at 1 p.m.
Roger Williams University: Richard “Dick” Sullivan (undergraduate) and Lara E. Montecalvo (Law School)
Commencement at the private Bristol college is set for Friday, May 15, on the school’s seaside campus, with the primary commencement ceremony beginning at 9 a.m. on the main athletic field behind the Campus Recreation Center.
The university’s School of Law ceremony, meanwhile, is scheduled for 2 to 3 p.m., also on the main athletic field.
RWU alum Richard “Dick” Sullivan, the former executive chairman and CEO of PGA Tour Superstore, will deliver the undergraduate commencement address and also receive an honorary degree.
School of Law students will hear from the Honorable Lara E. Montecalvo, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, who will also receive an honorary degree.
Providence College: Matthew Slater (undergraduate) and Donna Cupelo (graduate)
Providence College’s undergraduate commencement is Sunday, May 17, at 11 a.m. at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in downtown Providence.
Former New England Patriots wide receiver and three-time Super Bowl champion Matthew Slater will deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary doctoral degree.
For graduate students and the School of Continuing Education, their ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 14, at 6:30 p.m. in Peterson Recreation Center on the Providence College campus, where Donna Cupelo, a retired Verizon Communications vice president of public policy for the Central/New England regions, will be the featured speaker. MaryBeth Canavan, Rich Gotham and John F. Killian will also receive honorary degrees.
Brown University
The Ivy League school typically prioritizes student voices over outside speakers at its commencement ceremony, and this year is no different. This year’s undergraduate senior orators are Zein Faheem, an applied mathematics-economics concentrator from Cairo, Egypt, and Caelle Joseph, a Haitian American, first-generation student studying international and public affairs and business economics. Both will address fellow graduates on Sunday, May 24, during Brown’s 258th commencement ceremony, which starts around 1:15 p.m.
Brown has also named Kenia Collins and Melanie Ortiz Alvarez de la Campa as speakers for separate master’s and Ph.D. ceremonies on May 23 and May 24, respectively.
Brown usually brings in several honorary degree recipients, one of whom does address the University’s undergraduate class on the Saturday afternoon before graduation, but these recipients have not been revealed yet.
Rhode Island School of Design: Julie Mehretu
Commencement ceremonies for the state’s prestigious art school take place on Saturday, May 30, at 9 a.m. at the Rhode Island Convention Center. A hooding ceremony takes place the day before at the RISD Auditorium.
Julie Mehretu, a RISD alum, will deliver the commencement speech. The Ethiopian-born visual artist graduated in 1997 and works primarily in painting, drawing and printmaking. She is especially known for her large-scale work, such as the 85-by-25-foot mural she made for the Obama Presidential Center.
RISD will also honor cartoonist Roz Chast, RISD board member Stephen A. Metcalf, and sculptor David Wiseman with honorary degrees.
Editor’s note: These ceremonies have already taken place:
Johnson & Wales University: Johan Grahn (undergraduate) and Aby Alexander (graduate)
Johnson & Wales University will host two ceremonies at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence on Saturday, May 2, starting at 10 a.m. with the graduate studies ceremony, followed by the undergraduate commencement at 2 p.m.
Graduate students will hear from Aby Alexander, the founder, president and CEO of BroadSat Technologies, a company that leverages broadcast, broadband and AI to deliver internet and communications services like telemedicine and remote learning, especially in underserved areas.
The undergraduate speaker is Johan Grahn, a JWU alumnus who now serves as senior vice president and head of exchange traded funds at Raymond James Investment Management.
Both Grahn and Alexander will receive honorary Doctor of Business Administration degrees at the ceremonies.
New England Institute of Technology: Ashley Judd
Actress, humanitarian and author Ashley Judd will deliver the commencement address at New England Institute of Technology during the school’s 85th commencement ceremony at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence on Sunday, May 3, at 11 a.m.
Judd — a Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated actress with three decades of experience, who is known for films including “Ruby in Paradise,” “Kiss the Girls,” and “Double Jeopardy” — has also worked on social justice campaigns and global advocacy for women’s rights. She will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during the ceremony.
Also receiving an honorary doctorate is Vincent A. Rossi III, a New England Tech graduate and Rhode Island entrepreneur who founded Rossi Electric. His honorary degree is a Doctor of Business Administration.
