Goucher College Announces 2026 Commencement Speaker

Goucher College has announced that U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin will deliver the keynote address at Goucher’s 135th Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony celebrating the graduating Class of 2026 will take place on the college’s Margaret M. Winslow Great Lawn.

“Since our founding 140 years ago, our college has been committed to providing access and equity in education and supporting student success, social mobility, and global perspectives. Rep. Raskin’s deep commitment to these shared principles, passions, and purpose is upheld each day in the vital work he does for Maryland’s citizens and our country,” said Goucher College President Kent Devereaux.

Raskin represents Maryland’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. He was named the lead impeachment manager in the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in 2021 and later served on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.

Prior to his service in Congress, Raskin was a professor of constitutional law and the First Amendment at American University’s Washington College of Law for 25 years. He was also a three-term state senator in Maryland, where he served as the senate majority whip and led the breakthrough fights to pass marriage equality, abolish the death penalty, restore voting rights to former prisoners, and pass the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

Raskin is also the bestselling author of Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy, Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court Versus the American People, and We the Students: Supreme Court Cases for and About America’s Students.

“We are honored to welcome Rep. Raskin to Goucher during this year of our country’s 250th anniversary and to have him share his experience and insight with our next generation of changemakers,” said Devereaux.

For event details, please read more about Goucher’s Class of 2026 Commencement ceremonies.