Each year at Class Day, held the Sunday before Commencement, soon-to-be graduates from Yale College gather for a festive celebration featuring a notable speaker (this year, the author Min Jin Lee ’90), the awarding of prizes for academic, artistic, and athletic excellence, reflections from class members, and many Yale symbolic traditions.Among those traditions: headgear of all shapes, sizes, and origins. This year, the Class of 2026 put their creativity on full display, from a 3D-printed tribute to New Haven to a homemade childhood puppet. Take a deeper look and learn about the inspiration behind seven of this year’s hats.
Christine DongHometown: Honolulu, Hawai’iCollege: DavenportMajor: Mechanical Engineering and PhysicsThe hat: “I wanted this lei poʻo, which is like a lei for your head, which is customary from where I’m from,” said Dong. “And then I wanted something to move, because I feel like I need to do something since I’m a mechanical engineering major. And I like the aesthetic of this windmill situation.”
Alex MooreHometown: St. Paul, MinnesotaCollege: Grace HopperMajor: Mathematics and Computer ScienceThe hat: “I was on the college council and have been a FroCo and otherwise very involved in the community, and so I really wanted to represent Hopper as much as possible,” said Moore. “Grace Hopper was a rear admiral in the Navy, and there’s a ship in the Navy named after her. And so for a while I’ve wanted to put that on my hat.”
