A few at a time, students and faculty took the stage in Texas Wesleyan University’s Nicholas Martin Hall Thursday.
They handed their professor their robe or hood, who held it out for them or draped it around their neck. Many hugged. Several pointed and waved to proud family members in the audience who snapped photos.
It was the 99th year of a tradition in which students select a meaningful mentor to bestow their regalia in a moment of celebration and gratitude.
“It’s so nice to know that she was just right around the corner, up the stairs two flights, and I could find her anytime I needed her,” Madison Dryden said of her chosen faculty member, education professor Lisa Dryden.
Their matching last names are not a coincidence — Madison, 23, is Lisa’s daughter. When the younger Dryden needed advice or had successes to share, her mom was never far away.
“It means the world to me. I’m very proud of her,” Lisa Dryden said of robing her daughter. “I’ve watched her grow from a freshman to the woman that she is now, just tremendous growth, and I thank her professors here at Wesleyan and the impact that they had on her life.”
Madison Dryden, left, chose her mother Lisa Dryden, an education professor, to robe her at the Texas Wesleyan University robing and hooding ceremony on campus on May 14, 2026. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
Madison will continue her education at Texas Wesleyan to complete a master’s degree in counseling.
Also remaining is fellow psychology bachelor’s degree graduate Christine Figiel, who was robed by psychology department chair Matthew Hand.
Christine Figiel and Matthew Hand hug onstage at the Texas Wesleyan University robing and hooding ceremony on campus on May 14, 2026. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
Figiel chose Hand because he helped her navigate academic life and personal challenges, she said.
“I was just kind of going through something one day I think, and I pop in his office and I was like, ‘Can I talk to you about something?’” Figiel said.
She kept him updated ever since.
Fiegel stuck out to Hand as a great student with genuine curiosity.
“And not even just the classes I’m in,” Hand said. “She’d be like, ‘Hey, Dr. Hand, I just learned this in this particular class. What do you think about this?”
The bonds professors and students share do not break when students graduate, university President Emily Messer emphasized during a speech at the ceremony.
“These relationships that you and your professors have built are not limited to the borders of this institution, but will continue to flourish as you go out to your community as future leaders,” Messer said.
Texas Wesleyan University President Emily Messer speaks at the campus’ robing and hooding ceremony on May 14, 2026. (Christine Vo | Fort Worth Report)
While Fiegel will still be on campus, she will not take any more of Hand’s classes. Still, she knows they will stay in touch.
“I’ll still bother him as my journey goes on and progresses, I’m sure,” she said.
McKinnon Rice is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
The Fort Worth Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
The Report’s higher education coverage is supported in part by major higher education institutions in Tarrant County, including Tarleton State University, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M-Fort Worth, Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, the University of Texas at Arlington and UNT Health Science Center. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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