Dean urges graduates to 'mend the tattered fabric'
E. Maurice Wells ‘26 M.Div. receiving his diploma from Dean Greg Sterling / photo by Jean Santopatre
In his address to the Class of 2026 today, Yale Divinity School Dean Greg Sterling called on the graduates to remember the sense of community they experienced during their divinity education and commit themselves to building community in their callings and careers.
“We’re struggling as a society to hold ourselves together,” Sterling said to the 128 graduates and the families, faculty, and staff surrounding them on the Divinity Quadrangle. “One of our goals as a school has been to prepare you not just to be successful in your own individual career, but to lead and build communities.”
Seventy-seven of the graduates received the Master of Arts in Religion (M.A.R.) degree, 47 the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree, and four the Master of Sacred Theology degree. The 2026 graduates range in age from 22 to 70. They came to Yale from all across the United States and the nations of Brazil, Canada, China, Ghana, Georgia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea, and Trinidad & Tobago.
Of the M.Div. graduates in the Class of 2026, roughly 57 percent will serve as ministers or chaplains; 16 percent will pursue an additional degree; 14 percent will serve non-profits or justice ministries; and another nine percent will serve in education as teachers or administrators.
Among the M.A.R. and S.T.M. graduates, 47 percent will pursue another degree in universities with a geographical span that extends from Vienna, Austria, to Berkeley, Calif. Another 17 percent are going into education as teachers or administrators; 14 percent will begin ministry work; and eight percent plan to work in the arts.
Meet these graduates: Profiles of members of the Class of 2026
Handsome Dan at YDS Commencement / photo by Campbell Harmon
Commencement 2026 began on the sun-splashed morning with the students assembling in the plaza of the School’s new Living Village residence hall. They were joined by a special guest: Handsome Dan, Yale University’s official mascot, who posed for photos wearing the same kind of pipe-cleaner halo that many Divinity School graduates affix to their mortarboards.
Continuing a tradition two decades long, the Rhythms From the Heart drum group led the graduates on the mile-long procession “downtown” to Yale’s main campus, where the Divinity School contingent took part in the University-wide Commencement ceremony.
One of the honorary degree recipients at the all-Yale graduation was sociologist Robert Putnam ’70 Ph.D., author of the landmark book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. First published in 2001, with a revised, updated edition released in 2020, the book chronicles how Americans have become increasingly disconnected from one another and from civic institutions such as bowling leagues and parent-teacher associations. Social capital has declined as a result, to the detriment of democracy.
Yale awards eight honorary degrees: Read more
Dean Greg Sterling addressing the Class of 2026 / photo by Jean Santopatre
Putnam could well have titled his updated edition “posting alone,” Sterling told the divinity graduates, noting how social media have only accelerated the decline of civic institutions.
He cited a Biblical ideal in explaining why he has given high-priority status to community during his 14 years as dean: a vision by the author of Ephesians of a community consisting of disparate parts brought together by love.
“The author of Ephesians reminds us that community requires humility, patience, and to put it bluntly, putting up with one another in love,” Sterling told the class. “People who value community are willing to listen. You haven’t always agreed with every policy of Yale or with every decision that I have made, nor have I agreed with every position you might have urged us to take. But we’ve been able to sit down and have candid exchanges that were respectful.”
YDS Diploma Ceremony: Watch the video
Sterling closed with a reference to an event from early in his childhood: John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961, in which he delivered his famous line “ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”
“Don’t ask what everyone else can do for you,” the Dean urged. “Ask how you can serve others. Build communities. Our future as a democratic society depends upon our ability to mend the tattered fabric that holds us together.”