On a sunny Friday afternoon on May 8, 2026, the La Follette School’s 37 newest graduates – along with faculty, staff, family, and friends – packed into the Wisconsin Assembly Chambers to celebrate the 2026 graduating class. Speakers emphasized the need for evidence-based decision-making and encouraged graduates to carry both the skills they cultivated at the school and their “why” into their future endeavors.
Ceremony recordingCeremony photos
“My hope for this cohort is that the scale of changes we’ve seen in pubic affairs would be motivating, not disheartening,” said Morgan Pincombe (MIPA ’26), who was elected by her peers as this year’s student speaker. She urged her classmates to navigate changes in public discourse and the policy landscape with the same resilience and compassion they had shown throughout their time together at La Follette. “Just as we’ve seen in our many graduate school group projects, even when – especially when – there are conflicting visions of how to solve a problem, the end product is stronger when it reflects sincere teamwork,” she said. “Our blends of worldviews and friendships has meaningfully shaped my understanding of ‘good’ policy.”
Commencement speaker, Senator Tammy Baldwin, echoed Pincombe’s sentiments during her remarks. She noted that government desperately needs more evidence-based policymaking and depolarizing voices. “You are graduating with a set of knowledge and skills that you’ve developed over the years, at a moment when they are deeply needed,” Sen. Baldwin said. “You are uniquely qualified to be stabilizers in this volatile system.” She encouraged students to never lose sight of what brought them to study public policy and to remember the legacy and vision of Senator Robert M. La Follette as they begin their careers. “What we carry with us isn’t the physical desk, that big oil painting in the Capitol, or, the physical diploma – it is the values they represent. It’s the mission and belief that better is possible.”
Selected by the graduating students, Professor Mariel Barnes spoke to students about the importance of policy work and its ability to shape both society and individual lives. She also shared examples from her own research where recent policy shifts had significant impacts for communities and survivors of domestic abuse. “The ‘why’ of policy work is to help people. If we’re not here to do that, and to make people’s lives better, then what are we doing at all?” Professor Barnes said. “The best advice I can give you is to be resilient, to dig deep, resist disenchantment, and remember why you were drawn to public policy in first place.”
La Follette’s Director of Graduate Programs, Professor Jason Delborne, invited graduates to move their tassels from right to left symbolizing their official transition to alumni of the School. Before concluding the ceremony he left students with a final message: “Whatever you go on to do, please know that you will always have a home at the La Follette School of Public Affairs.”
La Follette School Student Association graduation coordinators Jacklyn Alsbro and Andrew Lindaas helped staff organize the event, which included a reception for graduates, family, and friends in the Capitol rotunda after the ceremony.
Congratulations to the almost 200 undergraduates who also graduated this May with public policy and health policy certificates.
Graduation accolades
During the ceremony, several students were recognized for their academic achievements and presented with awards. Anna Kane (MPA ’26) received this year’s Director’s Achievement Award for an outstanding academic record, initiative, and professionalism. Jacob Anderson (accelerated MPA ’26) won the Penniman Prize for the best paper demonstrating the school’s writing and analytic tools for his paper, “Implementing the Previously Proposed Increased Local Options Sales Tax.” He was nominated for the award by Professor Ross Milton. Finally, Mufan Chen (MIPA ’26) won the Piore Prize for the best paper in science and public policy for her paper, “Repurposing USPS Properties for Housing Development.” Professor David Weimer nominated Chen for the award.
– Story by MPA graduate Grace Florence (MPA ’26)