Commencement

Commencement 2026

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Commencement for the Class of 2026 was held on Sunday, May 17, at 8:30 a.m., at Ed Robson Arena on the Colorado College campus.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026!

Watch the live stream

Transcript of Commencement Address

Program
Large Print Program

Speakers

Commencement

Headshot of Dee Bradley Baker '86Dee Bradley Baker '86

The College is pleased to welcome Dee Bradley Baker '86 back to campus to deliver the 2026 Commencement address.

Baker is one of Hollywood’s most accomplished and versatile voice actors, with a career spanning more than three decades across television, film, video games, and live-action productions.  

Baker earned a BA in Philosophy at Colorado College, complemented by studies in German, biology and art. His time at CC also included significant choir, singing, and stage performance, experiences that helped shape the artist he would become. He is a passionate advocate for a liberal arts education and sees a well-fed, curious mind as a practical advantage in a rapidly changing world. 

Baker first drew wide attention as the voice of the rock god Olmec on Nickelodeon’s Legends of the Hidden Temple, and soon after helped bring iconic Looney Tunes characters back to the big screen as Daffy Duck and Taz in the original Space Jam. Since then, he has become one of the most in-demand performers in the industry. 

His extraordinary acting range is on full display in Lucasfilm Animation’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars, where he voices Captain Rex and the clone troopers—crafting each as a distinct individual. He expanded that feat in Star Wars: The Bad Batch, portraying all five members of the titular squad. 

Among his best-known roles are Perry the Platypus (Phineas and Ferb), Klaus and Rogu in American Dad!—part of his recognition as a twice Emmy-nominated performer—and multiple characters in SpongeBob SquarePants, including Bubble Bass. He is also renowned for creature and animal vocal performance, including Appa and Momo in Avatar: The Last Airbender. More than half of his work is non-human vocal performance. 

His game work includes Gravemind in the Halo series, Variks in Destiny, and Hammond (Wrecking Ball) in Overwatch. He also provides Eagly’s vocalizations in James Gunn’s Peacemaker. Outside the booth, Baker mentors performers through his free website iwanttobeavoiceactor.com and is an avid Halloween yard creator and bug photographer. 

Baccalaureate

Lori Driscoll '94, Professor, Chair of Neuroscience & PsychologyHeadshot of Lori Driscoll

A native of Colorado and a first-generation college student, Driscoll graduated from CC in 1994 with a degree in Psychology. A gap year job at a compounding pharmacy spurred Driscoll’s love of pharmacology, which she combined with her neuroscience background in her studies of Biopsychology at Cornell University. After receiving her PhD in 2003, Driscoll returned to CC, where she has taught Psychology and Neuroscience courses for 23 years. Her research focuses on how early life adversity interacts with dietary factors to influence gut health and brain development and function.

Honorary Degree

Also at Commencement, Colorado College will confer an honorary degree upon: 

Christopher Benoit '03Headshot of Christopher Benoit

Christopher Benoit ’03 is an attorney who has been shaped by the communities and mentors he has worked alongside throughout the Americas and has put that training to work both locally and internationally. After graduating from CC, Benoit accompanied genocide witnesses in Guatemala with NISGUA, organized in various worker centers in the U.S., and worked in Mexico with ProDESC defending communities affected by unscrupulous mining practices and forced labor. These experiences drew him to the University of Washington School of Law and to practice on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Based in the borderlands since 2009, Benoit and community partners founded a worker-led organization that changed state wage theft laws. With his law partner, Lynn Coyle, he exposed failures in the El Paso Police Department's use-of-force oversight, resulting in systemic changes.

As border enforcement intensified, Benoit’s practice changed. Benoit’s FOIA litigation uncovered surveillance of human rights lawyers, earning him and his client the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sunshine Award in 2022. In 2019, he and Lynn obtained a ruling putting ICE on notice of substandard medical care for hunger strikers. That fight continued alongside the ACLU of New Mexico in 2023 where litigation brought to light the truth behind the death by suicide of a young man at a private facility where inspectors had flagged critical safety failures.

In the last two years, alongside co-counsel, Benoit investigated deaths in expanding detention facilities, secured one of the first federal habeas wins challenging the unlawful detention of a DACA recipient, and forced the first evidentiary hearing on the government’s use of the Alien Enemies Act, winning release for a family facing deportation to El Salvador’s CECOT prison. He has also worked to ensure robust legal defense for immigrant rights organizations facing criminalization. 

Benoit exemplifies the application of a liberal arts education in service of building community and power for the most vulnerable.

Save the Date

Commencement for the Class of 2027 is scheduled for Sunday, May 16, 2027 at Ed Robson Arena on the Colorado College campus.

Baccalaureate Blessings

Baccalaureate Blessings are a special part of the graduation tradition for Colorado College students. We invite you to surround the Class of 2026 with your hopes, blessings, and wishes by sharing individual messages for your student and/or classmates. Visit the Baccalaureate Blessings page for instructions and ideas for how to submit a message. 

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