On September 18, with parents and guarantors in attendance, the September 2026 Graduation Ceremony was held. The ceremony was simultaneously streamed on YouTube.
The ceremony was held in two sessions. The first session was attended by graduates and degree recipients from the Faculties of Theology, Humanities, Human Sciences, Law, Economics, Foreign Studies, Global Studies, and Science and Technology, as well as the Sophia Program for Sustainable Futures (SPSF) and the Graduate Schools of Humanities, Applied Religious Studies, Human Sciences, Languages and Linguistics, and Science and Technology. The second session was attended by graduates and degree recipients from the Faculty of Liberal Arts and the Graduate Schools of Global Studies and Global Environmental Studies.
The ceremony was conducted in English, creating a distinctly international atmosphere, with students from the Sophia University English Speaking Society (E.S.S.) serving as moderators. The ceremony opened with a blessing by Father Yasunori Yamauchi (Catholic Jesuit Center), followed by a reading from Mark 9:30, 33–37.
President Sugimura encouraged the graduates, stating: “Henceforth, all of you after graduation will set out on distinct paths. Regardless of the path you choose, it is my earnest hope that you cherish the leadership you nurtured at Sophia, the leadership of walking alongside others, and I desire also that you play an active role in linking people, both with one another and with our world.”
Degree recipients included 15 doctoral students, 77 master’s students, and 261 undergraduate students. Degrees were conferred by President Sugimura on all doctoral students in attendance, as well as on representatives from each master’s program and undergraduate faculty.
Following congratulatory speeches by Chancellor Sali Augustine and Haruki Hayashi, President of the Sophia Alumni Association, representative students delivered addresses on behalf of the graduates and degree recipients. In the first session, Yichi Zhang (Department of Global Studies, Sophia Program for Sustainable Futures) delivered an address, while Marlen Kwamboka Mochoge (Master’s Program in Global Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies) delivered an address in the second session.
To conclude the ceremony, graduates and degree recipients joined the Sophia Amadeus Chor in singing the alma mater, accompanied by the Sophia Philharmonic Orchestra.
