Jazz vocalist and composer Cécile McLorin Salvant will deliver the 2026 commencement address on June 7. Dan Harris, an author, podcaster, and former ABC News correspondent, will deliver the College’s baccalaureate address the day prior. Both will receive honorary degrees at commencement.

Salvant has been nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the Grammy Awards six times and has won three awards in the category for her albums For One to Love, Dreams and Daggers, and The Window. She received a MacArthur “Genius Grant” in 2020 for her contributions to jazz.

Born to a Haitian father and French mother in Miami, Salvant has recorded songs in English, French, Haitian Creole, and Occitan — a Romance language spoken in southern France, Monaco, and parts of Italy and Spain. Her music bridges gaps between musical genres, including blues, jazz, and Baroque. Her compositions explore themes of femininity, longing, and power.

Harris began his career as a television anchor for WLBZ in Bangor, Maine, after graduating from Colby in 1993. After working as an anchor and political reporter at another local Maine news station and later the New England Cable News, he worked as a correspondent at ABC News for 21 years. He has hosted episodes of Nightline and Good Morning America’s weekend edition. His reporting has taken him across the world, including to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Haiti. He left ABC in 2021.

After a televised panic attack on Good Morning America in 2004, Harris began to meditate and was inspired to share his experience in transforming his mental health. His 2014 New York Times bestselling book, 10% Happier, encourages other self-identifying skeptics to try meditation. He currently hosts the 10% Happier podcast, where he has discussed a variety of topics relating to well-being and meditation across more than 1,000 episodes with guests ranging from actor Bill Hader to the Dalai Lama, with whom he produced a five-part series.