U.S. Senator Rand Paul urged Grove City College graduates to embrace optimism and individualism in the face of doomsayers and groupthink Saturday at the College’s 146th Commencement.
“Let nothing and no one stomp on your dreams,” Paul (R-Ky.) told the Class of 2026.
“You have every reason to be proud as graduates of Grove City College … You are graduating from the one college brave enough to tell the Federal Government to ‘Take a hike – we will do it our way!’ That is quite a legacy. No doubt many of you here today carry that same independent streak,” Paul said.
In his remarks, Paul contrasted that spirit with what he said he sees in his travels to other colleges and universities, and the fear generated by media and elites, particularly surrounding the advent of artificial intelligence.
“I’m concerned that most students are being taught that solutions only come from government, or from some unchallengeable class of ‘experts’ – and not from creative and disruptive individuals. I worry about the defeatist attitude and victimhood of many young people,” he said. “So today, I want to accomplish one task – I want you to leave here jubilant at achieving this milestone in your life and excited at the possibilities that await you.”
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul
Paul’s remarks were part of a ceremony marked by pomp and circumstance that saw Grove City College confer 545 undergraduate and graduate degrees at Commencement. Fifty-two percent of the Class of 2026 graduated with honors, with 88 students earning summa cum laude status.
Saturday’s Commencement was the first presided over by Bradley J. Lingo ’00, who was inaugurated as the College’s 10th president in March. He noted that he will always remember the class who were seniors when he was “a freshman president” and he was grateful for them.
“In classrooms and labs, residence halls and rehearsal spaces, on athletic fields and in churches, you served. You led. You studied. You ministered. You cared. And in doing so, you shaped the culture of this campus. Grove City is a stronger, richer, more Christ-centered community because of you, Class of 2026,” he said.
“The goal was never simply that you would succeed here—but that you would be prepared to go: to live faithfully, to serve joyfully, and to lead with purpose wherever God calls you. The world you are entering needs wisdom, integrity, courage, and hope. And you are well prepared to offer it,” Lingo said. “If you ever wondered why we were so hard on you – why we took this so seriously, why we cared so much – well, that’s why. Because we were not simply getting you ready to get a job and put food on the table. We were preparing you for the work to which you have been called. We were preparing you to step fully into God’s plan for your life.”
Ashley VanDixhoorn ’26, who graduated summa cum laude with highest honors in Mathematics and a minor in Biblical and Religious Studies, delivered the student speech on behalf of her classmates. The Trustee Fellow from Charlotte, N.C., represents “the best of Grove City College’s commitments to both Christ-centered community and academic excellence,” Lingo said.
VanDixhoorn invoked Grove City College’s favorite writer as she reflected on the Class of 2026’s journey together. “When C.S. Lewis said, ‘There are no ordinary people’ all the best scholars agree that he was referring specifically to Grovers.”
“Our time here was for a purpose,” she said. “As we go out into what has been called a ‘strange new world,’ we can take the lessons we learned, and continue to see the glory of God when we coach, teach, build, manage, study, sing, and more. One day, it might hit us that these are ordinary things. But if four years of Grove City have taught us anything, it is that God uses ordinary means to accomplish the extraordinary.”
The College awarded honorary degrees to Paul and Rev. Ethan Magness, rector of Grace Anglican Church, Grove City, who spoke at Friday evening’s Baccalaureate service.
Paul, known as a tireless advocate for constitutional government, fiscal responsibility, and individual liberty, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Magness, whose church serves many students and faculty members, received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.