Good morning and welcome to the 2026 Commencement Exercises at St. Christopher’s School, the 115th Commencement of our storied institution.

 

It is my pleasure to welcome all of you this morning, especially the parents, grandparents, family, and friends of our outstanding Class of 2026.

For the past 10 years, before most public addresses at St. Christopher’s, I would turn to my Class of 2026 son Patrick and ask for advice. Patrick, who is known in our household for both his brevity and his consistency, always replied the same–“Dad, please don’t talk for too long.”

Buddy, this one’s for you. I’ve cut it down to under 7 minutes, I promise. And, faculty, please be sure to thank Patrick for this gift. 

 

There are so many colleagues worthy of mention this morning, Saints who have worked incredibly hard to make this moment possible. I won’t list them by name but will ask you to join me in showing appreciation for every St. Christopher’s team member who contributed to make this special day possible. Let’s thank them all together. 

   

For our faculty and staff, who have guided these young men under the pines with love and care, thank you. 

 

For our Board of Governors, especially our chairman Mr. Tim McCoy, concluding his three-year term of service, and the president of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, Mr. Henry Broaddus, thank you for your leadership and stewardship of this community and for the unwavering support you have offered to me and to all of our faculty and staff.

 

A special thanks to our Alumni Association President Alex Grymes, who concludes his first year of leadership of our alumni community and who will soon help us welcome 87 new Saints into our alumni brotherhood, bestowing upon them an official St. Christopher’s necktie immediately following receipt of their diploma.

 

I also wish to recognize and thank our colleagues at St. Catherine’s School, especially Head of School Cindy Trask and Associate Head of School Frances Doyle. My thanks to you and to your colleagues for your partnership in the education of the Saints in our community.

 

Parents of the Class of 2026: You deserve special recognition this morning. Thank you, first and foremost, for entrusting these young men into our care. It is a sacred trust and one we do not take for granted.

I want to call special attention this morning to our “lifer” families, those who have been with us for 13 or even 14 years—your commitment and loyalty to this school and community is remarkable, and we thank you for that. Seniors and parents, if you joined this community in either Junior Kindergarten or Kindergarten will you please stand and be recognized at this time?

 

For our remaining senior families, approximately half of you, thank you for joining this community either later in Lower School or in Middle or Upper School. Thank you for the gifts and perspective that you brought to this class and this community—we are better for being a collection of dynamic and diverse families from all over the Richmond region. Seniors and parents, if you joined St. Christopher’s in First Grade or later, will you please stand and be recognized at this time?

 

Now, to the Class of 2026. Please allow me just a few minutes to offer my sincere thanks to all of you.

Clearly, I am a highly biased headmaster up here, with a particular affinity for this class, but let me just say it clearly and wholeheartedly–You guys are incredible. No, you are epic. No, you are fire. You know what, you are historic. 

Truly, is there anything you all cannot accomplish, any elite skill that you do not possess?

Academically, we have sung your praises this week at our inaugural Cum Laude induction service, at the Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, and earlier this spring at the Capstone Scholar Presentations. You are a creative, intelligent, hard-working, and intellectually curious group of young men.

Artistically, you are elite. Whether it’s stunning visual creation through sketches, paintings, photography, or woodwork, or high-level musicianship through choral performances, jazz and rock concerts, or a capella offerings, this class boasts some of the finest visual and performing artists I have ever experienced in any high school community.

Athletically, well, Tuesday night’s fantastic Athletic Awards ceremony took nearly 90 minutes due to your historic dominance in the league and throughout the state. The statistics speak for themselves–You won eight out of 12 Virginia Prep League titles this year, including all 7 sports in the fall and winter. For the four league titles you did not win, you finished second. You led our School to its record 10th consecutive Director’s Cup, as well as 5 state championships and two second-place finishes in the state. Truly dominant. 

 

In previous Commencement speeches, gentlemen, I have spent another few minutes offering specific evidence of the excellence or the traits of a class that makes it unique.

For your class, as a way to conclude, I am going to do something a bit different.

As we all know, tragedy struck our Saints community just under two weeks ago. We lost one of our bright lights, a much-loved 9th grader named Avery. We think of him every day and continue to mourn this devastating loss.

In the immediate aftermath of Avery’s death, it was hard to find beauty or positivity. There was just so much shock, so much deep and penetrating sadness. But, for those of us graced to be close to this campus, close to this community and these seniors, there was indeed beauty amidst the heavy pall of darkness.

And that beauty was you, gentlemen. Without any prompting from us, any script or any playbook, you did what Saints do. You demonstrated brotherhood. You created community. You acted with excellence, honor, and integrity.

I saw you reach out to our freshmen class, who were hurting then and are still hurting now. You organized pick-up basketball games, took guys out to lunch, you told them you cared about them and that they mattered.

As I shared with you in Chapel, gentlemen, that is Leadership, and that is Service, personified. 

Members of the Class of 2026, you are indeed elite in so many ways. And that is important and impressive.

But what is more important is that you are kind, you are loving, you are gracious, and you are compassionate. If we did not know that already, we have seen it so clearly and so powerfully these past two weeks.

Gentlemen, you are ready to graduate. You have earned your diploma and your entrance into the St. Christopher’s alumni brotherhood. God bless you all. Your parents and this faculty love you very much. And may you never forget that.