Emmy Award-winning host, producer and author Andy Cohen will return to his native St. Louis to deliver the 2026 WashU Commencement address.
Chancellor Andrew D. Martin and Cohen beamed the news from the Manhattan set of “Watch What Happens Live,” Cohen’s popular late-night talk show, to the Brookings Quadrangle, where hundreds of graduating students gathered March 24 for the class toast.
“Seniors, I’ll see you May 15. I’ll bring the Imo’s and the Busch beer,” Cohen promised.
The university’s 165th Commencement ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. May 15 on Francis Olympic Field on the Danforth Campus. Cohen, who will receive an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts during the ceremony, will address the Class of 2026 and their friends and family members. Roughly 5,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students are set to graduate this academic year.
Since 2009, Cohen has welcomed the biggest names in entertainment, politics and pop culture to “Watch What Happens Live.” Cohen also serves as an executive producer of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives” franchise and has helped launch a dynamic slate of unscripted series and specials, including hits such as “Top Chef,” “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” “Project Runway,” “Shahs of Sunset” and “Million Dollar Listing.” Every year, millions of viewers ring in the new year with Cohen and friend Anderson Cooper, co-hosts of CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live” special.
Cohen is the recipient of the Vito Russo Award by GLAAD and has been recognized in The Hollywood Reporter’s and Variety’s Most Powerful LGBTQ Players in Hollywood lists.
Cohen received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2022; the St. Louis Walk of Fame followed suit in 2023. Cohen grew up in Clayton and graduated from nearby Clayton High School in 1986.
The university also has named five other honorary degree recipients:
- Kwofe Coleman, president and CEO of the Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis (The Muny) and board president emeritus of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Doctor of Arts;
- Deborah E. Lipstadt, the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University and former U.S. State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, Doctor of Humane Letters;
- Michael McDonald, five-time Grammy winner, 2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Doobie Brothers lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter, solo artist and St. Louis native, Doctor of Fine Arts;
- Marcus Raichle, MD, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Medicine at WashU Medicine and winner of the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience, Doctor of Medicine
- Anabeth and John Weil, philanthropic champions of WashU, the Central Institute for the Deaf, New City School, the Saint Louis Art Museum and other St. Louis institutions, Doctor of Fine Arts
Susan Stiritz, a professor emerita at the Brown School, will serve as honorary grand marshal. The undergraduate student speaker will be Mason Shaver, who is majoring in political science and in educational studies in Arts & Sciences. The graduate speaker will be Sejal Popat, who is completing a master’s in fine arts degree in illustration and visual culture from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.
The Commencement ceremony will be followed by a festival stretching from Francis Field on the west end of the Danforth Campus to Tisch Park on the east end. The festival will feature lawn games, photo booths, live entertainment and food from St. Louis eateries.
For more information, visit the Commencement website.
