Marist University announced on April 1 that Jennifer Egan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, will deliver the Commencement address for the undergraduate Class of 2026 on May 22 on the Campus Green.
Egan is known for her novel A Visit From the Goon Squad, which won both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award in 2011. The university said her message will focus on growth, connection, and looking toward the future as graduates mark this milestone event.
Egan has also written The Candy House, recognized by The New York Times as one of its top books of 2022. Her bestseller Manhattan Beach received the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was selected for New York City’s One Book, One New York program. She has contributed reporting to publications such as The New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker and earned awards including the Carroll Kowal Journalism Award and a NAMI Outstanding Media Award. Most recently, her reporting about street homelessness in New York City appeared in The New Yorker in 2023.
“I’m thrilled and honored to help cheer the Class of 2026 through one of life’s great transitions,” said Egan. “Their accomplishments will be our collective future, and I’ll try to do justice to this momentous rite of passage!”
Marist University President Kevin Weinman said: “We are honored to have an author and writer as accomplished as Jennifer help us celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2026. Her Pulitzer-winning novel is about a group of people whose lives intersect over many years and how time, technology, and relationships shape their lives – a message that will resonate with our graduates who grew tremendously over the last four years and will remain connected as alumni for years to come.”
Egan has served as President of PEN America and twice been Artist-in-Residence at the University of Pennsylvania’s English Department.
The undergraduate ceremony begins at 10:15 a.m. on May 22 on Campus Green. Graduate students will be recognized at their own ceremony on May 21 at McCann Arena.
