Meadville Lombard will celebrate its 181th Commencement the weekend of May 30–31, 2026. See below for all the information you need to know. If you have any questions, please contact our Registrar, Elena Jimenez.
The Board of Trustees, Faculty, Staff, and the Graduating Class invite you to attend
Meadville Theological School of Lombard College’s 181th Commencement
Sunday, May 31, 2026, at 3pm CT.
We welcome all area ministers, alums, institutional representatives from other theological schools, and friends of the school to Meadville Lombard’s 181th Commencement Ceremony. If you’d like to join the academic procession, please let us know by emailing Faysha Crosbie by April 28.
The ceremony will be streamed via Zoom at 3pm CT.
The Commencement program will be available in a booklet form for in-person attendees. Online attendees can access the PDF program. Check back in May for the digital program.
Meadville Lombard Theological School will celebrate its 181th Commencement on Sunday, May 31, 2026, at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago. Since its founding in 1844, the school has graduated preachers, parish and community ministers, chaplains, academics, denominational leaders, and hymnists, all while maintaining its commitment to a multiracial, multicultural, and theologically diverse learning environment. At the forefront of theological education, Meadville Lombard’s educational model incorporates a three-year integrated internship and digital technology within a low-residency program so students don’t have to reside near the school; instead, they can come in regularly for intensive courses and complete their ministerial training locally. This year most of our students will receive an MDiv degree, some will receive a Master of Arts (Religion) degree, some will receive Certificates, and we will welcome our first graduates from our new DMin program. We will also award one honorary doctorate. This ceremony brings to a culmination the many years of hard work that all these graduates have put into obtaining their degrees. Classes, papers, discussion groups, practicums, seminars, and parish/institutional placements all lead to this celebratory moment when our graduates hold their degrees in their hands. Gowns, hoods, and processions point to this singular triumph that says this person is ready to go out and embody liberal religious ministry in the world.
Meadville Lombard will provide a robe and hood for graduates who will be present in Chicago for the ceremony and for in absentia graduates upon request. If you have not sent in your measurements, please contact Elena Jimenez as soon as possible.
We plan to distribute diplomas during the Commencement ceremony for all graduates who are present in person. Those graduates who are not present will receive your diploma by mail in June.
Vespers, dinner, and the Commencement ceremony will be photographed. Photos may be posted on our website and social media pages. If you would like to request high-resolution files of the photos, please contact Chloë Westerfield, Marketing and Communications Officer.
The Commencement fee is $185 and will be billed through Populi. This fee helps to defray the costs of Commencement activities, as well as graduate audits and diploma printing. The fee applies to all graduates, regardless of whether or not you attend Commencement, and must be paid in full in order to receive a diploma.
We have a list of affordable hotels around our campus. Due to the busy weekend in Chicago, we encourage attendees to arrange for accommodations as soon as possible.
Please note: this information is provided as a resource only. Meadville Lombard does not endorse or recommend any particular housing option.
Please contact Elena Jimenez at (312) 212-0672 or Faysha Crosbie at (312) 445-9221.
The graduating students arrange all aspects of Vespers with the help of the Senior Director of Contextual Ministry.
Vespers will be held at Meadville Lombard at 180 N. Wabash Ave., 7th Floor, on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at 5pm.
Please note:
Commencement Vespers is an intimate event, led by the graduating students for their classmates, alums, MLTS staff & faculty, internship supervisors, and family and friends. We will share the Zoom link with students so they can invite their circle of friends and supporters.
The 2026 Commencement dinner will be at the L7 Chicago Hotel, 225 N. Wabash Avenue Chicago, IL 60601. It’s less than a block away from campus.
This is a ticketed, seated dinner, and space is limited. Graduates will have an option to bring up to two guests and may request additional tickets if space is available. Please contact Elena if you have any questions.
There is no dress code, but we suggest business or business casual.
We will do our best to accommodate all dietary restrictions and preferences. However, we must know about them ahead of time. If you didn’t provide the dietary information for you and your guests on the “Intent to Graduate” form or need to edit the information, please email Faysha Crosbie and let her know as soon as possible.
Commencement will be held at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago at 5650 S. Woodlawn Avenue.
The ceremony will be streamed via Zoom. There will be a link available on this page by the week of the ceremony to watch Commencement on Sunday, May 31, 2026, at 3pm CT.
The Commencement program will be available in a booklet form for in-person attendees. Online attendees can access the program via PDF—a link will be available on this page prior to the ceremony.
There is no dress code. Commencement is being held at First Unitarian Church of Chicago, so please wear what you’d wear to church or a similarly formal event.
We welcome children at Commencement. However, Meadville Lombard cannot arrange for childcare.
Robes and hoods for graduates will be available on Friday from 9am to 4pm at Meadville Lombard, as well as on Saturday prior to or following Vespers. We encourage you to pick it up in advance so you can steam out wrinkles by hanging it in a bathroom with a hot shower running or by using a steamer. If you are not able to pick up your robe on Friday or Saturday, we will bring it to First Unitarian Church. It will be available beginning at 1pm. Graduates and those participating in the Commencement procession are invited to robe there.
Graduates should arrive by 1:45pm. We encourage guests to arrive by 2:30pm.
Yes, you are welcome to take pictures, but only without flash. During the ceremony, we ask that all flashes be turned off. We will also have a photographer.
We plan to distribute diplomas during the Commencement ceremony for all graduates who are present in person. Those graduates who are not present will receive your diploma by mail in late May or early June.
5pm: Commencement Vespers Service at Meadville Lombard (180 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 700). Our graduates will lead a Vespers service. Family and friends are invited to attend.
6pm: Move to the L7 Chicago for Conviviality
7pm: Commencement Dinner with Honorary Degree Recipient at L7 Chicago. This is a ticketed, seated dinner. Graduates will be given an option of bringing up to two guests.
1:45pm: Graduates arrive at First Unitarian Church to get ready
2:15pm: Commencement rehearsal
2:45pm: Graduates line up for processional
3pm: Commencement at First Unitarian Church in Hyde Park (5650 S. Woodlawn Ave.). All are welcome and invited to attend.
For driving directions, parking options, as well as public transportation directions, please visit the Map & Directions page.
All Commencement weekend locations are accessible for persons with mobility issues. If you have specific questions about stairs, seating, elevators, or parking, please get in touch with Faysha Crosbie at fcrosbie@meadville.edu or (312) 445-9221.
Emilie M. Townes (she/her)
Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Religion and Black Studies
Boston University School of Theology
Dr. Emilie M. Townes, an American Baptist clergywoman, is a native of Durham, North Carolina. She holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a PhD in Religion in Society and Personality from the Garrett-Evangelical Seminary/Northwestern University joint program. Dr. Townes was the Dean and University Distinguished Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society (Divinity) and University Distinguished Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies (College of Arts and Science) at Vanderbilt University, becoming the first African American to serve as Dean of the Divinity School from 2013–2023. She is the former Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale University Divinity School and in the fall of 2005, she was the first African American woman elected to the presidential line of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and served as president in 2008.
She was the first African American and first woman to serve as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Yale Divinity School. She is the former Carolyn Williams Beaird Professor of Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Social Ethics at Saint Paul School of Theology. Her most recent co-editorship is with Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Alison Gise Johnson, and Angela Sims for Walking Through the Valley: Essays: Womanist Explorations in the Spirit of Katie Geneva Cannon (2022). Townes was elected a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009. She was the first Black woman to serve as president of the American Academy of Religion in 2008 and served a four-year term as president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion from 2012 to 2016. Townes was the first Black woman to serve as the president of the Society of Christian Ethics from 2024-2025. She is the founder of the Womanist Leadership Hub that seeks to be a networking hub for Black women activists, clergy, laity, organizers, scholars, and students to support the justice-oriented work they are engaged in. She joined the Boston University School of Theology faculty in 2024.