Making an Ultimate Decision about Commencement

On most college campuses, graduation weekend comes with a familiar choice of attire: cap, gown, maybe a few cords and stoles.

For the graduating seniors of the Claremont Braineaters, the uniform this year looked a little different.

Cleats. Jerseys. Frisbees.

While much of Pitzer College gathered for its annual Commencement ceremony on May 16, 13 graduating Pitzer seniors instead found themselves in Waukegan competing at the USA Ultimate Division III National Championships — the culmination of a season defined as much by friendship and community as by athletic success. 

The timing forced an unusually high-stakes decision. Attend graduation or compete at nationals?

For a team accustomed to making split-second choices on the field — huck or swing pass, risk or patience — this may have been the toughest call of all.

After weeks of discussion, the players chose nationals and ended their season on a high note, getting seeded eighth and making it to the quarterfinals to finish fifth overall. In the process, they also picked up the highly coveted spirit award, which honors a team for displaying sportsmanship and positivity.

For co-captain Jamie Miller, though, the decision to participate in the tournament had little to do with their hopes of winning. Everyone was looking for something else.

“This tournament is really important to us because we see it as a celebration of the last four years with our team,” Miller explained.

To Miller and his teammates, the Braineaters are not simply a club sports team. They are a community built through years of practices, tournaments, road trips, inside jokes, and mutual support.

“Seeing how the Brains were then and how they are now, I’m so proud of everyone and all the work they’ve done,” he said. “Given a choice between the graduation ceremony or celebrating the end of our time in college with our best friends who’ve been working on this project together, it ended up not being a very difficult choice.”

And what a project it has been.

Led by Coach Austin Baxter, the Braineaters entered this year’s nationals with a 17–8 record, a third-place finish at the Stanford Open, and a Southwest Conference championship that secured their spot at nationals. They also climbed to No. 5 in the Division III men’s power rankings by Ultiworld.

Still, statistics rarely dominate conversations around the team. Instead, the two words that come up most often have little to do with competition: fun and community.

"The nature of frisbee is spirited,” Miller said. “The focus is on community building and having fun.”

The Spirit of Ultimate Frisbee

Miller said he still remembers arriving as a first-year student knowing little about the sport.

“Some friends convinced me to show up my freshman year,” he said. “I met 20 people I’d never met before, and they did their best to make me feel welcome.”

Older teammates taught him how to throw, encouraged him to stay involved, and helped create the culture he now works to pass on himself.

“It’s really been a good space that values inclusivity and meeting people where they’re at,” he said.

That spirit is woven deeply into Ultimate Frisbee culture itself. Games are self-officiated, placing responsibility on players to resolve disputes honestly and respectfully. Teams are also evaluated not only on wins and losses, but on “spirit scores” that measure sportsmanship, positivity, and respect for opponents.

For Amy Yam P’28, a member of Pitzer’s Family Leadership Council whose son Mitchell plays on the team, that culture is what makes the Braineaters so special.

“They play with such joy and spirit, and sometimes that spirit score means more than the actual score,” she said. “The coaches are focused on developing people here, not just frisbee players.”

That playful culture also extends into one of the team’s most beloved traditions: nicknames. Every player receives one during their first year, often for reasons that make perfect sense only to teammates.

Miller’s nickname, “forp,” is simply “prof” spelled backward.

“That’s one of the things that makes it silly and inherently funny,” he said. “It’s just an example of how much of a family feel there is on the team.”

A Mini-Commencement

That family feeling became especially apparent when parents realized the graduating seniors would miss Commencement entirely.

Rather than allowing the moment to pass quietly, several parents — including Katie Woodruff P’26, Mik and Deb Axt P’26, and Yam — organized a surprise mini-Commencement celebration in Illinois after the tournament concluded. The event featured a prerecorded congratulatory message from Pitzer President Strom Thacker, along with a photo slideshow tribute (created by Mik Axt) honoring the graduating players.

“We all have a vision of what a Claremont graduation is like, and it’s a little sad to give that up,” Woodruff said. “But we love watching the Brains so much. They have such an amazing love for each other and such great spirit that we’re really happy to support them in going as far as they can.”

The parents say they have also appreciated the enthusiastic support shown by Strom and Isabelle Thacker, who have attended games, cheering from the sidelines, and proudly sported Braineaters jerseys around campus.

“They’ve been so approachable and caring and interested in what the team is doing,” Woodruff said. “There’s a true joy at Pitzer in supporting students and the people they’re becoming.”

In the end, that may be the real story of the Braineaters’ graduation weekend.

Yes, there was a national championship tournament. Yes, there were rankings and records and competition. Yes, the team did very well and finished with a record to be proud of.

But mostly, there was a group of students choosing one final adventure together … and getting a chance to spend one more weekend with the teammates who have become a family.