Bennington College Celebrates Class of 2026: Local Grads “Hit the Ground Running” with Impactful Work

BENNINGTON, Vt. NewsWK — Bennington College officially celebrated the achievements of its Class of 2026 during its 91st Commencement ceremonies. True to the college’s distinct hands-on philosophy, this year’s graduating class leaves behind a legacy of intense local community engagement, scientific discovery, and creative accomplishment before ever receiving their diplomas.

Known for its unique Field Work Term (FWT) model—where students spend two months each year pursuing professional internships—members of the Class of 2026 averaged ten progressive work experiences throughout their four-year tenure. This year’s crop of graduates proved that undergraduate work can ripple far beyond the borders of the campus.

Deep Roots in the Bennington Community

Several graduates focused their efforts directly on the local Bennington area, tackling environmental issues and supporting community infrastructure.

Seniors August Schnell, Alejandra Vouga Aguilera, and Kasha Butterfield received official certificates of appreciation from the State of Vermont for their crucial work analyzing well-testing data in the local PFAS contamination zone surrounding the former ChemFab Corp. factories. Schnell and classmate Miriam Bloom also actively engaged in local civic discourse, publishing a front-page opinion essay in the Bennington Banner advocating against parking LPG trains in nearby neighborhoods.

On the community development front:

• Alex Bregy spent all four college years working with the DREAM Program, culminating in a role as site manager where he ran a free summer day camp for 30 youth living in local low-income housing communities.
• August Schnell helped secure a $1,000 Stewart’s Shops grant for the Bennington Free Library to expand resources for patrons dealing with dementia.
• Mattias Van Cleef brought art to the local economy with “My Fleeting Moments,” a solo exhibition hosted at JAYS – Bennington Artisan Market in downtown Bennington.

Scientific Breakthroughs and Ivy League Research

Bennington’s Class of 2026 also made waves in the broader scientific community. Shashvat Shah used his data science background to help drive critical healthcare decisions right down the road at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

Furthermore, Shah and classmate Atlas Seres are already published scientists, having co-authored a peer-reviewed genomics paper in the December 2025 issue of Molecular Biology and Evolution, contributing to breakthroughs in fruit fly chromosome research.

Over the summer, Andrea Lara beat out immense competition to become one of just 60 students chosen out of 50,000 applicants nationwide to study at Brown University, where she assisted with vital postdoctoral research on cleaner shrimp.

Global Footprints and Elite Graduate Programs

As the Class of 2026 moves on, their next steps reflect the global and competitive nature of a Bennington education.

To help launch their postgraduate lives, visual arts seniors Zuza Gaboush, Natalie Bayeslan, and Aviva Feinberg were named the inaugural recipients of the new Commencement Fellowship pilot program, which provides $18,500 in funding via the Ponsold Motherwell Charitable Trust.

Other notable postgraduate trajectories for the Class of 2026 include:

• The University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop: Renowned poets Blu Mehari (winner of the Academy of American Poets’ Green Prize) and Hannah Bardhi will both pursue their MFAs at the prestigious workshop. Edison Hicks will follow a similar track, pursuing an MFA in poetry at Syracuse University.
• Northwestern University: Anne Pötzsch will head to a fully funded PhD program in Comparative Literary Studies, building on her senior thesis regarding transnational literature.
• The University of Chicago: Dallas Fangmann accepted a fully funded offer for a Master of Arts in Religion to explore early modern scientific and religious history.
• International Teaching: Mac Goulis and Cassadie Scott were selected for the competitive Teaching Assistantship Program in France (TAPIF), earning English teaching placements in French Guiana and Poitiers, respectively.
• University of Toronto: Jay Clark, who spent his field terms indexing historical expeditions for Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum and preserving LGBTQIA2S+ elder histories at the OUTWORDS Archive, will pursue a Master of Library and Information Science.
• New England Conservatory of Music: Julius Boxer-Cooper—who balanced a linguistic senior thesis on the Abenaki language with an original music showcase spanning jazz, rock, and classical—will begin a Master’s in Contemporary Musical Arts.

With commencement ceremonies drawing to a close, the local community bids farewell to a resilient and ambitious class of leaders who have already proven they don’t need to wait for graduation to change the world.

For full video archives of the 91st Commencement speeches, delivered by political analyst Molly Jong-Fast MFA ’04, faculty speaker Ikuko Yoshida, and student speaker Andy Farrell ’26, visit the Bennington College Commencement portal.