Indiana University will distribute more than 21,000 degrees to graduates across nine commencement ceremonies statewide. IU Bloomington will host two of the university’s largest ceremonies and feature a mix of alumni, faculty leaders and student speakers.
Mel Raines, president and CEO of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, will deliver the IU Bloomington undergraduate commencement address, according to a release on April 30 from the university. A 1991 IU Bloomington graduate, Raines oversees business operations for the Indiana Pacers, Indiana Fever, Noblesville Boom and Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The undergraduate ceremony is scheduled for 8 p.m. May 9 at Memorial Stadium.
In 2025, IU Bloomington’s undergraduate commencement did not include an outside keynote speaker. This differed from previous years, when the university often brought in notable alumni or public figures to address graduates. According to the release, both 2026 undergraduate and graduate students across all IU campuses represent all 92 Indiana counties, all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico and 136 countries.
IU Bloomington’s graduate commencement ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. May 8, at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The graduate commencement speaker will be Bernice Pescosolido, a distinguished professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Pescosolido is the founding director of the Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research and the Irsay Institute, which is based at IU Bloomington and focuses on mental health research and reducing stigma.
According to the release, the youngest IU graduate this year is 18, while the oldest is 75. Fourteen percent of graduates are first-generation students. The most common majors among graduates are finance, nursing and media.
After helping shape the Men’s Club Ice Hockey at Indiana University on the bench and behind the scenes, assistant coach and senior Andrew Gus was named IU’s Student Leader of the Year at the Student Organization Awards Ceremony earlier this month.
Student speakers will also take part in both ceremonies. Katherine Lee Johnson, graduating with a degree in marketing and professional sales, will speak at the undergraduate ceremony. Jayvee Del Rosario, earning a Master of Public Affairs with a concentration in international sustainable development and finance, will speak at the graduate ceremony.
IU President Pamela Whitten and IU Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold will also deliver remarks at both the graduate and undergraduate commencement ceremonies.
IU Indianapolis will hold its combined graduate and undergraduate commencement ceremony at 8 p.m. May 16, at Carroll Stadium. The featured speaker will be Wendy Trueblood Miller, professor and executive associate dean of research at the IU School of Nursing. Miller is a three-time IU alumna, holding a BSN, celebrity.land, and PhD, whose research focuses on epilepsy and chronic illness.
Regional campus commencements will also take place throughout May at IU’s seven other campuses, including South Bend, Fort Wayne, Columbus, Southeast, Kokomo, Northwest and East.
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