College graduations will draw thousands to the South Bend area this weekend.
St. Mary’s and Holy Cross colleges will host commencement ceremonies Saturday afternoon. Notre Dame’s undergraduate commencement will take place Sunday morning, with law and graduate school commencements on Saturday and diploma ceremonies throughout the weekend.
With all those visitors, it’s also an important weekend for local businesses, according to Visit South Bend Mishawaka Executive Director Jeff Jarnecke. "Of the 5,200 hotel rooms in St. Joseph County . . . we’ll average somewhere between 85- and 90-percent occupancy, both on Friday and on Saturday night," Jarnecke said. "And so, for that reason, the impact to our community is tremendous."
He said short-term rentals like Vrbo and Airbnb will also see higher demand – and prices – but not as much as they see for a Notre Dame football game.
Jarnecke is hopeful that family members going to graduations this weekend will become return visitors in the future.
Notre Dame said it will confer 3,335 degrees this weekend.
Sister Raffaella Petrini, the president of the Pontifical Commission and Governorate of Vatican City State, will be the principal speaker at Sunday’s undergraduate commencement. Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver will receive the 2026 Laetare Medal. Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark and former archbishop of Indianapolis, will offer the benediction.
St. Mary's College and the University of Notre Dame are financial supporters of WVPE.
