MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University will welcome thousands of visitors to campus to celebrate nearly 700 of the newest Blue Raider alumni who will march across the stage of Murphy Center as the second graduating class of 2026 during the summer commencement ceremony set for Saturday, Aug. 8.

The ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. Central Aug. 8 in Hale Arena inside Murphy Center at 2650 Middle Tennessee Blvd. and is open to the public. The event also will be livestreamed at https://mtsu.edu/live and on the university’s Facebook channel, https://facebook.com/mtsublueraiders, and will be broadcast on MTSU’s “True Blue TV” station on local cable channels and at https://mtsu.edu/TrueBlueTV. 

Of the 692 students set to graduate, 473 are undergraduates, and 219 are graduate students, including 182 master’s candidates, 16 education-specialist recipients and 21 doctoral candidates. In addition, two graduate students will be receiving graduate certificates, according to the latest information from the Registrar’s Office.

The newest Blue Raider alums and their supporters will hear congratulatory remarks from MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and keynote remarks from Michael P. Federici, a professor and former chair in the Department of Global and Political Affairs and immediate past president of the Faculty Senate.

Federici has published six books, including “The Political Philosophy of Alexander Hamilton,” as well as dozens of articles and book reviews. He has done more than 1,000 media interviews for local and national media, including WZTV and WKRN (Nashville), WJET TV, WICU TV, WSEE TV, C-SPAN, WITF PA Public Radio, WQLN Radio, WJET Radio, WNYC Radio, WBEN Radio (Buffalo), The Tennessean, The Erie Times News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Harrisburg’s The Patriot-News, Scranton Times-Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, The Buffalo News, Tribune de Genève, and CQ Weekly.

Before joining MTSU, Federici served on the faculty at Mercyhurst University for 24 years, including seven years as chair of the Political Science Department. While at Mercyhurst, he also served for four years as Faculty Senate president and on the university’s Board of Trustees.

Federici served as president of MTSU’s Faculty Senate for the 2025-26 academic year, leading a body of senators elected from every department on campus who advocate for faculty and work to improve policies that affect them.

Students from all MTSU’s colleges — Graduate Studies, Basic and Applied Sciences, Behavioral and Health Sciences, the Jones College of Business, the College of Education, Liberal Arts and the University College — will receive their degrees during the ceremony. 

With the summer 2026 commencement ceremony, MTSU will have awarded just over 195,330 degrees to its students, including associate, bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialist and doctoral degrees, since its founding in 1911.

More ceremony details

MTSU will provide closed-captioning services for the live video streams as well as American Sign Language interpretation at the ceremony. The live coverage will begin about 15 minutes before commencement starts.

MTSU’s Aug. 8 summer commencement ceremony is expected to last about two hours. All graduating students must remain for the entire event.

Please note: The clear bag policy is in effect for Murphy Center for all visitors. Learn more on this page.

A campus map with parking details for guests is available at bit.ly/2026parkingmap. A seating chart of Murphy Center, including access for guests with mobility issues, is available a https://www.mtsu.edu/murphycenter/facilities/.

Driving directions, along with complete graduation details for students and guests, are available anytime at https://mtsu.edu/graduation. 

The university’s 2026-27 academic year begins Aug. 24, with the first official day of fall 2026 classes.

MTSU will formally welcome its new freshman class of 2030 and new transfer students at University Convocation in Murphy Center beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22.

That special event will feature Edward J. Larson, author of “Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters,” the MTSU summer reading selection. 

It will also air live at https://www.mtsu.edu/live, https://facebook.com/mtsublueraiders, and https://mtsu.edu/TrueBlueTV. 

— Jimmy Hart ([email protected])