The Graduating Class of 2026
Commencement Ceremony
Manchester University looks forward to welcoming guests at Commencement activities on the North Manchester campus. To view the livestream, a link will be provided here on the day of Commencement.
Schedule of Events
Saturday, May 16, 2026
10 a.m. | Cordier Auditorium | Concurent Undergraduate & Master of Business Administration Only
2 p.m. | Cordier Auditorium | Graduate & Professional
Immediately following each ceremony, graduates, family, friends and faculty gather on the mall to celebrate together.
Additional Information
ADA Compliance
Facilities for Commencement are fully accessible. Those needing special seating should call 260-982-5050.
Photography
Professional photographers will record Commencement and take individual photographs of students with their diplomas. Information on these individual photos will be sent to students’ families. Other photography of students on stage with their diplomas during the ceremony is strongly discouraged. Manchester University is proud of the graduating class of 2025, and will be capturing photographs and video for publicity and advertising. By attending, you may be photographed and/or filmed, and waive the rights to any claims for compensation in connection with these materials.
Shopping
The University Gear Shop, located in the Jo Young Switzer Center, will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Prohibited
No latex balloons or noisemakers allowed.
The Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility
Students at colleges and universities throughout the world have recognized the Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility. It reads:
I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work.
The pledge is voluntary. It allows people to determine for themselves what they consider to be environmentally and socially responsible.
Click here to sign the pledge.
Volunteers will be present prior to commencement to hand out green ribbons and pins to those graduates who endorse the pledge, as well as to supportive faculty members. Wearing a ribbon makes a public statement of one’s intent to consider the well being of the world and its inhabitants both when considering job possibilities and after taking a job.
Manchester University students have signed the pledge since 1988, a year after its inception at Humboldt State University. For 11 years, from 1996-2007, Manchester was the national headquarters for the Graduation Pledge Alliance (GPA), the national pledge effort. Over the years 50-65 percent of students have worn green ribbons at commencement in recognition of the pledge. To our knowledge, Manchester was the first to wear ribbons and now a number of other colleges and universities do.
We have recognized that the pledge can be supported by anyone who wants to be intentional about the responsibility of his or her employment. It is our hope that support of the pledge will contribute to the cooperative effort to build responsible citizenship for a sustainable world. In the past, some MU pledge signers have turned down jobs they did not feel ethically comfortable with or have promoted environmentally friendly efforts while on the job.