Commencement 2026

Accommodations

To reserve rooms, parents and adult guests should make direct inquiries to the various hotels in the Exeter, Portsmouth and Hampton area. Please check Places to Stay page to see various hotels in the area.

Parking

Campus Safety staff will direct guests to the parking areas off Chadwick Lane adjacent to the boiler plant. Chadwick Lane is accessible from Court Street (Route 108).

If the weather favors an outdoor ceremony, the roadway in front of Peabody Hall and the driveway beside Bissell House will be cleared for emergency use only, while Front Street and Tan Lane will be closed to traffic.

Drivers of cars bearing elderly guests or those with accessibility needs should ask the police officers for permission to use the Peabody roadway to let off their passengers, and then should park elsewhere on the street.

Inclement Weather

If steady rain or other inclement weather is expected, the decision to move the ceremony indoors to the Thompson Field House is made on the morning of graduation.

After the Ceremony

Immediately following the ceremony, there will be a lunch reception on the lawn in front of the Academy Library. If the ceremony is held indoors in the Thompson Field House, a grab-and-go lunch also will be available indoors. All in attendance at the day’s events — graduates, families and friends — are invited to the lunch reception.