The 2026-27 academic year has officially begun for our Templeton scholars!

As always, the Templeton year started with a trip to the Adirondacks with the newest cohort. The cohort of 2026 is the largest Templeton cohort to date with 36 students and it was a privilege to get to give them the ADK experience that all Templeton students before them have had. Our group was blessed with good weather, save for one 20 minute downpour before dinner one night! The cohort of 2026 huddled together under the tarps and sang together while the storm passed. 

Between their first Good Life sessions on The Odyssey with Dr. Williams, and practicing “close reading” with Dr. Moser, the cohort of 2026 embraced the sunny afternoons at Forked Lake and took to the canoes or a comfy seat around the fire. There’s nothing quite like ending the summer at this familiar spot and watching what always happens: strangers on Saturday become a community by Thursday.

These new Templeton students got to catch their breath over the weekend before diving into the first week of classes on campus. This is the second year that classes are operating out of Templeton Hall. After a quiet summer, it felt right to see students reuniting in Templeton Hall’s many welcoming spaces. 

The first week of classes closed with the Matriculation of the newest cohort. Fun fact about this cohort: seven of our new students are younger siblings to older “Templetonians”/Templeton alumni!

At Matriculation, guests heard Dr. Jon Reimer of Eastern and Templeton give his talk, "Freedom in the Bones: Reading in the Age of Artificial Intelligence". To close the ceremony, Dr. Burke Rea and the cohort of 2026 led the audience in singing “Wayfaring Stranger”, as a part of Templeton’s latest mission to bring more communal singing to its ordinary rhythm. 

Welcome Cohort of 2026!