Live blog: Senior Send-Off 2026!

Free of their “final” final exams, the Class of 2026 has Denison all to themselves for much of the week leading up to their Saturday Commencement. 

It’s a time of cheers and tears, of closed chapters and new beginnings. Over the next few days, we’re chronicling their last few days as students on The Hill. Follow along as we update through the week!

Rise and shine, Class of ’26. Stop by Slayter and you may run into Chief. Tammy, who works in the Slayter cafe, brought the 8-week-old boxer puppy in to meet all her favorite graduating seniors.

Nothing announces a celebration like the pop of a cork. The evening light is perfect for pictures and seniors take advantage, striking their best poses in front of Denison’s most iconic building. Friends Jason Chen ’26, Akindele Aboyade-Cole ’26, Andrew Laramore ’26,  and Yahir Fernandez-Alvarez ’26 don caps and gowns. They send geysers of Asti skyward. “Gradu-eight, not seven!” Aboyade-Cole declares. More seniors arrive. All dutifully step around the Denison seal; no point in tempting fate this close to the big day.

Seniors file under the big tent for the President’s Reception, the official start of Senior Send-Off 2026. President Adam Weinberg runs through what he notes is only a partial list of Class of ’26 accomplishments: national titles, top-flight student journalism, breathtaking arts performances, and groundbreaking summer research. “It was an incredible honor to share The Hill with you for the last four years,” he says. “I know some of you are personally sad to leave, because you’re worried you’ll lose touch with people close to you.” But he reminds them — this is Denison. “That does not happen here.”
 

The colorful illustration of Denison philosophy faculty and staff, drawn by Olivia Bernard ’24, hangs from a Knapp Hall office wall. “This brought everybody in the department to tears when Olivia sent it,” says Sam Cowling, an associate provost and philosophy professor. This week, many seniors will deliver thank-you cards and gifts to their professors. While faculty members appreciate the gesture, what they really want from graduates is to remain in touch. Bernard’s connection is a prime example. Professor Barbara Fultner has visited Bernard in Seattle, where she lives. When the former student learned the department hired Associate Professor Chloe Armstrong last year, she added Armstrong’s caricature to the illustration and re-sent it. The department had the depiction made into cards and also blown up and framed.  All Bernard wanted in return was to stay connected. “Rest assured, I will be back to visit campus again,” she writes, “and you all had better send me the schedule of philosophy coffees as soon as you know it. Keep in touch!”

There’s not much sweeter than spending a leisurely week on The Hill with fellow seniors awaiting Commencement. Especially if it involves eating free ice cream. The biology department held its annual Senior Ice Cream Social for graduates. Students chatted with their professors, while dining on cups of frozen goodness in a variety of flavors. “It’s a chance for us to have closure with people we’ve spent so much time around,” Jazmyn Rafique ’26 says. Associate Professor Christine Weingart enjoys the informal nature of the event. “The students are totally relaxed,” she says, “and it’s fun to talk to them about their journey and what comes next.”

The winningest class in Denison sports history was honored as approximately 125 seniors were welcomed into the Varsity D Association. The Class of 2026 won four consecutive NCAC All-Sports trophies, and some members were part of five national championships: women’s swimming and diving (2023), men’s swimming and diving (2025-26), men’s tennis (2025), and women’s basketball (2026). The prolific class might still add a few more NCAA titles in the coming weeks. “In high school, the big focus was on the individual person,” says Drue Thielking ’26, a four-time NCAA qualifier in women’s swimming. “At Denison, the focus has been on the team, and also supporting other teams here. The camaraderie has been special to be a part of.”

Helen Breen ’26 is not the only senior to give a coach or professor a gift of gratitude this week. However, she may be the only one who made hers in Denison’s woodshop. Breen crafted a piece of wood — “the cheapest I could find at Lowe’s” — into a lovely field hockey stick. She and her five senior field hockey teammates signed it before presenting it to coach P.J. Soteriades. It’s not Breen’s first gift to her coach. The visual arts minor also made a lifesize cardboard cutout of Soteriades, which stands watch over the coach’s office.

Alex Carlton ’26 and Talya Dersu ’26 refuel at Slayter after shopping in Granville for gifts for their favorite professors. Soon they’ll be joining Kate Tull and Andrew McNutt for a small “Former First-Year Fellow Soirée” before going back down The Hill to The Cidery with Marla Krak for a Vail Intern celebration.

Self-avowed “fruit-a-holic” Grant Hunter ’26 enjoys his favorite smoothie — strawberry banana — and one of his last on The Hill before heading to Boston to pursue video production.

Rachel Gilio ’26 and Ava Wood ’26 just loaded up on lots of goodies from the Denison Bookstore. After graduation Gilio will move to NYC to work in fashion, and Wood will start nursing school this fall.

Denison students aren’t accustomed to so much free time on campus. So how will they spend it over the next five days — beyond hoisting a few celebratory beverages? Lindsay Warwick ’26 and her friends plan to enjoy time outdoors, walk through Granville, and buy Denison T-shirts to be signed by classmates. Jack Ortmann ’26 wants to revisit East Quad. “I want to go back to places where I had some of my best memories,” he says. Constence Vasquez ’26 is interested in seeing the Bio Reserve and the planetarium, while friend Ariadna Cruz ’26 might check out Denison’s cemetery.