Strategic Communications and Marketing Illinois Commencement

2026 Universitywide Ceremony Program

Order of Exercises

Processional

“With Honor Crowned”
– Albert Ketelbey

Performance by:
University of Illinois Commencement Band
Conducted by Kevin Geraldi, Director of Bands

Singing of the Star-Spangled Banner

Performance by:
University of Illinois Commencement Band
Conducted by Barry L. Houser, Director of the Marching Illini

Land Acknowledgement 

Greetings from the Chancellor

Charles L. Isbell, Jr., Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Greetings from the Board of Trustees

Tami Craig Schilling, Trustee, Class of 1990

Greetings from the President 

Timothy L. Killeen, President of the University of Illinois System

Musical Selections

“Fanfare for a Festival”
– Ron Nelson

Performance by: 
The Combined Chorus 
The Black Chorus 
Conducted by Ollie Watts Davis 

The Varsity Men’s Glee Club
 Conducted by Barrington Coleman
The Women’s Glee Club 
Conducted by Andrea Solya

“Illinois”
– Archibald Johnston/C. H. Chamberlain 

Performance by: 
The Combined Chorus 
Dominic Mini, soloist from the Class of 2026

Class of 2026 Commencement Address 

Sean Evans, Class of 2008

Conferring of Graduate and Professional Degrees; Undergraduate Degrees; Recognition of Bronze Tablet Scholars and ROTC Candidates 

President Timothy L. Killeen 

Tassel Turn and “Hail to the Orange” 

Hail to the Orange,
Hail to the Blue, 
Hail Alma Mater, 
Ever so true. 
We love no other,

So let our motto be 
Victory, Illinois Varsity! 


Performance by:
University of Illinois Commencement Band
Conducted by Barry L. Houser, Director of the Marching Illini

Recessional 

“Pomp and Circumstance”

– Edward Elgar

Performance by:
University of Illinois Commencement Band
Conducted by Barry L. Houser, Director of the Marching Illini

Memorial Stadium Commencement Map

Livestream Captioning

University Honors

Bronze Tablet Scholars

The University Honors designation, the highest academic honor awarded to an undergraduate, is limited to those students who have demonstrated their capacity for sustained academic excellence of a high order. To be eligible for this honor, students must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 and must rank on the basis of cumulative grade point average in the top three percent of their college graduating class on the basis of all work taken through the academic term prior to graduation. University Honors recipients wear orange and blue braided cords as part of their formal academic attire. As recipients of this honor, each of the following students will have his or her name inscribed on a bronze tablet that is displayed in the corridor of the University Library. For this reason, University Honors recipients are known informally as “Bronze Tablet Scholars.”

Chancellor’s Scholars

A four-year program open to undergraduates in all curricula, the Campus Honors Program fosters collaborative relationships between exceptional students and distinguished faculty through small courses, a faculty mentor system and competitive summer research and travel grants. Admission is awarded to only 125 of the approximately 7,000 freshmen entering the university each year, plus about a dozen admitted as first-semester sophomores.
The following Chancellor’s Scholars are this year’s graduates of the Campus Honors Program.

Reserve Officers’ Training Corps

The following students have received academic credit for participating in one of the affiliated R.O.T.C. programs and earned commissions in the United States military.

Graduates and Candidates

This list is organized by college, degree and curriculum. Recipients of multiple degrees have an asterisk (*) after their names.

2026 Commencement Speaker

Sean Evans

Memorial Stadium Accessibility Information

Strategic Communications and Marketing Illinois Commencement

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: commencement@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-8834