Hanover’s Class of 2026 to graduate May 23
Hanover College will celebrate the Class of 2026 during the 193rd undergraduate commencement. Spring term’s culminating event will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 23, at The Point.
Commencement Information / Live Stream / Program
Hanover President Lake Lambert will confer diplomas to 213 members of the graduating class. Carey Adams, provost and vice president for academic affairs, will present each candidate for conferral.
Jennavee Houser ’26 will deliver the senior address. She will also be recognized as recipient of the Henry C. Long Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence.
Houser, a native of Cicero, Ind., is double major in biochemistry and Spanish. She earned the Alpha Lambda Delta Award, which is given annually to the senior member of the national honor society with the highest grade-point average. She has participated as a research intern for the Indiana University School of Medicine’s Medical Physician Engineers, Scientists and Clinicians Preparatory Program. On campus, she has served as a member of Student Senate, residence hall director and admission ambassador.
Creek Arthur ’26, Kylee Morgan ’26 and Elisabeth Walton ’26 will also be saluted as Hanover’s top senior award recipients. Arthur, a history and geology major from Greenwood, Ind., received the College’s John Finley Crowe Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence. Morgan and Walton, both Lexington, Ky., natives, were each presented with the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award. Morgan is a double major in biology and kinesiology and integrative physiology. Walton is an environmental science major with an emphasis on geology.
The commencement ceremony will include recognition of three retiring faculty members. Professors Melissa Eden (English), Steven Jobe (English) and Katherine Johnson (philosophy) have combined for more than 100 years of service to the College community.
Eden started at Hanover in September 1991 as a part-time instructor. She was granted tenure in 2003 and promoted to professor in 2010. Jobe came to the College in September 1990 as an assistant professor. He served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty from 2009-20. Johnson joined the campus community in September 1993 as an instructor of philosophy. She is the first woman in school history to earn the Arthur and Ilene Baynham Award for Outstanding Teaching three times (1999, 2015 and 2026).
Dr. Kathy J. Schilling Colletta ’75, M.D., FACR., will be presented with an honorary Doctor of Science degree.
Colletta, a Fellow of the American College of Radiology, is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist and serves as medical director at the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health and Wellness Institute in Boca Raton, Fla. She has been at the forefront of using artificial intelligence and learning models to advance breast cancer research and early detection.
Following the conferral of degrees, Mark Hays ‘77, president of the Alumni Leadership Council, will address the graduates and officially welcome the Class of 2026 into the Hanover College Alumni Association.
The commencement activities will include choral performances by the Hanover College Concert Choir and musical selections by the Hanover College Instrumental Ensemble.
Hanover’s concert choir, directed by Madlen Batchvarova, professor of music, includes students and members of the campus and local communities. Featured selections include works by Chester Alwes ’69, Stephen Schwartz and Meredith Willson.
The instrumentals, which include the processional and recessional, will feature works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Edward Elgar. The ensemble, directed by Jonathan Stanley, assistant professor of music, will also accompany the choir, graduates and guests during the traditional singing of “Hail, Alma Mater.”
Rev. Catherine Y.E. Knott, Ball Family Chaplain, will perform the benediction and invocation.
Marshals for commencement activities include faculty members Ann Kirkland, professor of French, Dan Murphy ‘77, professor of history, and Mi Yung Yoon, professor of international studies and the James T. McManaman Chair in Political Science.
Baccalaureate Service
Graduation activities will begin at 6 p.m., Friday, May 22, with the College’s traditional baccalaureate service in Fitzgibbon Recital Hall, Lynn Center for Fine Arts. The service, conducted by Knott, will be followed by a reception in the Duggan Library.
Parking and Inclement Weather Information
Free parking will be available throughout campus. Shuttle service will be available for individuals with disabilities or other special needs. No traffic will be permitted near The Point before and during the ceremony.
In the event of inclement weather, the graduation ceremony will take place in Collier Arena. Tickets are required for entry if the event is held indoors. The tickets, in limited supply, are free and available through all graduating seniors.
