Class of 2026 Senior Orator Announced

With Commencement on the horizon, Northfield Mount Hermon announced Anthony McNamara '26 will be this year's senior class orator.

Each year, a member of the senior class is selected to serve as orator from among a pool of applicants. McNamara will deliver a speech at Commencement on Sunday, May 24.

"Anthony's speech combines nostalgia with hopefulness, using humor to connect with his audience and draw listeners in," said English teacher Meredith Durkee, who served on the selection committee.

"This is definitely a first for me," McNamara said. "It's really funny, because last year, I went to the Class of 2025 graduation. I was watching Shai [Lipton-Ferguson '25] do his class oration and thinking 'That looks cool, but I could never do something like that.' And now here I am."

To capture a holistic sense of his classmates' experiences, McNamara spoke with friends around campus about their time at NMH.

"A good speech includes a variety of experiences, in a way that everyone can relate to," he said. "I'm a theater guy: I've done a bunch of performing arts, but I don't really know what it's like to be on the same sports team, moving up the ranks over four years. So I had to talk to some friends and get some inspiration."

McNamara joins the Class of 2026 valedictorian Emily Sun and salutatorian Miller Ming among seniors scheduled to speak during Commencement weekend. Ming will deliver remarks during the May 22 Recognition Assembly, while Sun will speak at the Baccalaureate Service on May 23.

"There's so many corners of NMH," McNamara said. "I think when you talk about the experience of people here, it's just so varied, and that's the super special thing about this school. The biggest thing I learned is the importance of being myself in those different spots and bringing my own experience into those corners."