Mercersburg Academy honored 132 members of the Class of 2026 during the school’s 133rd Commencement exercises Saturday, May 23. The ceremony, which is traditionally held on the platform between Keil Hall and South Cottage, was moved inside to the Hale Field House due to inclement weather.
Wes Moore, the 63rd governor of Maryland and the first Black governor in the state’s 246-year history, was the invited speaker. He challenged the graduates to pursue true relevance over superficial success.
“Starting today, your life grade will be not just on which information you retained, but what you actually did with the information,” Moore said. “When it’s time for you to leave this school, when it’s time for you to leave a job, or when it’s time for you to leave this planet, make sure that it mattered that you were ever even here.”
Student Body President Yijun Zhu ’26 introduced Moore, capping off a morning of powerful speeches from classmates who reflected on community, kindness, and identity.
Audrey Hua ’26 of Guilford, CT, delivered the valedictorian address, and Adrienne Howard ’26 of Engelberg, Switzerland, gave the salutatorian address. Schaff Orators Gabrielle Wyant ’26 of Fayetteville, PA, and Imangali Zhakan ’26 of Astana, Kazakhstan, represented the class.
Diplomas were presented by Head of School Quentin McDowell P ’25, ’27 and Board of Regents President Tom Hadzor ’72.
Watch a replay of the Commencement ceremony.
Reflections from the Class of 2026
Salutatorian Howard reframed Mercersburg’s tagline, “Define Yourself Here,” stating that self-definition is not a solitary pursuit but one that is forged through relationships. “Choose people who challenge you. Choose people who make you kinder. Choose people who show up,” Howard said. “And be the kind of person who shows up, the way this community has shown up for us, every single day, for the past four years.”
Valedictorian Hua challenged members of the Class of 2026 to remember where they started, to stay open to new connections, and to admit that even at the finish line, most people are still figuring things out. She shared a story from the first week of school this year when a group of freshmen, thinking she was a freshman, invited her to join them. After discovering Hua was actually a senior, the girl who issued the invitation was shocked.
“To that freshman who thought I was a freshman—wherever you are down there—thank you,” Hua said. “Thank you for reminding me of the most honest version of myself. And when you asked me if I wanted to walk with you guys, what I really wanted to say was: yes. Yes, let me join you guys. Let me grab my freshman name tag. If I did it all over again, what new friend groups would I be in? What would become inside jokes? The names might be different this time, but I know that feeling would be the same.”
Schaff Orator Wyant said the transformative power of Mercersburg can be found in small, everyday acts of kindness. “The kindness here isn’t usually loud or dramatic. It’s in small things,” Wyant said. “People here use their talents not just to succeed themselves, but to make someone else’s day easier, happier, or better.”
Schaff Orator Zhakan said one of the things he first encountered as a student at Mercersburg was the global alumni network, often referred to as the Long Blue Line. “I was 15. I didn’t really understand what it was, but it seemed corny, cliché even,” Zhakan said. “How and why would this boarding school connect me to a graduate from the Class of, say, 1969? Though I did not have the Long Blue Line fully figured out, it soon became evident that Mercersburg was not just any boarding school; it was a place that would soon foster a bond that would lead to a whole new family.”
Traditions and Matriculation
This year’s Class Marshals were Harold Cameron ’26 of Carlisle, PA, and Lilly Killinger ’26 of Middleburg, VA. Senior Class President Lorenzo Cole Piraino ’26 of Chevy Chase, MD, continued the senior class gift tradition of a donation to the Annual Fund.
The members of the Class of 2026 will matriculate to 85 unique colleges and universities, including Boston College, Brown University, Case Western Reserve University, Cornell University, Davidson College, George Washington University, Indiana University, New York University, Swarthmore College, Syracuse University, Trinity College, United States Naval Academy, University of North Carolina, and University of Pennsylvania.
View a list of prizes awarded at Commencement.
On Friday, May 22 (the evening preceding Commencement), seniors participated in the traditional Baccalaureate ceremony in the Irvine Memorial Chapel. Associate Head of School for School Life Dr. Julia Stojak Maurer ’90, P ’18, ’20, ’22, ’23, ’28 delivered the Baccalaureate address. Dr. Maurer has faithfully served the school since 2001 and will be departing Mercersburg to become the head of school for Connelly School of the Holy Child next year.
Maurer encouraged the graduates to do hard things. “You are entering college at a time when tools like artificial intelligence can make it very easy to avoid the hard parts of learning,” Maurer said. “Use tools wisely, but do not surrender your own thinking. Do not outsource the struggle that is meant to shape you. The hard work—the wrestling, revising, failing, trying again—is not an obstacle to your education. It is your education.”
She implored the Class of 2026 to seek out challenges because in doing so they will become stronger. “When life is unfair or unjust, do not let anyone rob you of your agency or your belief in yourself,” Maurer said. “When success comes—and it will—turn around. Help the next person. Pay back the kindnesses you have been given. Make someone else’s journey less lonely, less frightening, less difficult. Be the mentor, the teacher, the coach, the friend, the person who helps someone else believe they can do the hard things, too.”
See a replay of the Baccalaureate service.
School carillonneur James Brinson gave a recital on the Chapel’s Swoope carillon one hour prior to both Baccalaureate and Commencement.
