Grad Hooding and Commencement Archive

Good afternoon. Thank you professor McKeon and good afternoon again and most importantly congratulations to today's graduate students. 

Today is a day of celebration, reflection, and tremendous pride. While we gather here on South Hill, each of you has traveled your own unique path to reach this moment. Graduate education demands perseverance, sacrifice, discipline, and resilience. You balanced research, performances, clinical work, internships, teaching, careers, families, and countless responsibilities along the way. And while this achievement belongs to you, none of you arrived here alone.

I want to warmly welcome and thank the families, loved ones, mentors, faculty, and friends who supported our graduates throughout this journey. Your encouragement, patience, wisdom, and belief in them helped make this day possible. Graduates, please join me in recognizing those who stood beside you and helped you reach this milestone.

This academic year, our campus theme has been dialogue; a reminder that learning begins not simply by speaking, but by listening. Dialogue challenges us to remain curious, to engage across differences, and to seek understanding even when it is difficult. Graduate education at its best is rooted in dialogue: between theory and practice, between disciplines, between teacher and student, and between the world as it is and the world as it could be.

As graduate students, you embraced that challenge and asked difficult questions and examined assumptions. You explored ideas deeply and thoughtfully. And in doing so, you strengthened not only your expertise, but also your capacity for empathy, collaboration, and leadership.

Today, 187 students will receive graduate degrees from Ithaca College. Among you are future educators, artists, therapists, health professionals, business leaders, communicators, scholars, scientists, and advocates. Some of you will help communities heal. Some will inspire the next generation of learners. Others will innovate, create, and lead in ways we cannot yet imagine. Whatever path lies ahead, the world needs what you have developed here: the ability to think critically, communicate thoughtfully, and engage meaningfully with others.

As part of a tradition that began during Ithaca College’s centennial year in 1992, each graduate receives a medallion inscribed with a quotation selected by the president. This year’s quotation comes from writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

Those words speak powerfully to the importance of dialogue, the importance of courage, and the importance of truth. Real dialogue asks us not to turn away from difficult realities, but to confront them with honesty, humility, and humanity. Progress begins when we are willing to face challenges directly, listen deeply, and engage one another with empathy and with respect.

As you move forward from Ithaca College, I encourage you to continue seeking perspectives that are different from your own. Ask thoughtful questions. Lead with integrity and compassion. Speak truthfully, but also listen generously. The strongest leaders are not always those with the loudest voices, but those who create space for others to be heard and valued.

And remember this: uncertainty is not something to fear. Many of the most meaningful moments in life begin with uncertainty; with a step taken before the path is fully visible. Your time at Ithaca College has prepared you for that reality. You have developed the knowledge, skills, courage, and resilience necessary to navigate challenges and embrace opportunities ahead.

To whom much is given, much is required. You have been given an extraordinary education, guided by gifted faculty, mentors, and practitioners who challenged you to grow intellectually, professionally, but also personally. Now comes the responsibility to use those gifts in service of something larger than yourselves.

As you leave here today, know that you are not simply departing from Ithaca College. You are launching from Ithaca College. Wherever your journey takes you, carry this community with you and stay connected to one another and stay connected to your purpose. Know that Ithaca College will always be proud to call you our alumni. We wish you lives filled with meaning, success, curiosity, and joy.

From my heart to yours, congratulations on this extraordinary achievement. 

Good afternoon, Ithaca College, and welcome to all of the families, friends, loved ones, faculty, staff, administrators, and most importantly, to you, Class of 2026. I am incredibly honored to be this year’s commencement speaker, or as I’d tell my students, super stoked. 

Before you get a chance to walk across this stage, I have one last lecture that I’d like to give. Don’t worry, it’s not on the brachial plexus. If you have taken one of my classes before, you know I like to fill them with anatomy dad jokes, so here we go. 

What did one platelet say to another on their graduation day? Coagulations. 
It’s funny because platelets play an important role in the blood clotting process, also known as coagulation, which sounds a lot like congratulations… 

Sorry. But in all seriousness, the lesson for today is on time, uncertainty, and trust. Time. Uncertainty. And trust.

The number 4,382 may not mean much to you, but that’s how many days have passed since I walked across this stage to receive my doctoral degree from IC. 4,382. But for today’s graduates the number I want you to reflect on is somewhere between 1,727 and 2,076, because that is how long it has been since your first day of college. Nearly 2,000 days ago. Take a moment and think back to the friends you made that first year, the classes you took, the first student organization you were part of, that time you went to Applefest, watched a Cortaca game - Go Bombers - walked around the Farmer’s Market, saw a concert on campus, or dreamt about what it would be like to graduate from college. 

It’s incredible to think how much time has passed. For some of you it probably feels like it was just yesterday. That being said, there will be times in life that you will wish the days would go by faster, but I challenge you to try and live in the moment. Not all of those roughly 2,000 days were perfect, but I promise you that you’ll reflect back and realize they were some of the best days of your life. 


When I think back to 4,382 days ago, there are so some questions as to what my future had in store.
I was going to move back to Hudson valley becoming director of physical therapy clinic or move back to Ithaca beginning orthopaedic residency. 
Both options would have been an incredible opportunity. I'm forever grateful I chose the latter. 
Roughly 2000 days ago, you might have had questions like: Will I make the team? Will I be able to perform on stage? 
Is studying the morning of an exam actually enough time? Or maybe: Will I make friends? It is amazing how uncertain life can be at times, but believe me, it is all just part of the process. 
Because if you asked me on my graduation day where I would be now, and if you told me I would have sold a company, completed a residency and a fellowship, written a book, started teaching at my alma mater, climbed mountains, became a TikTok influence erinfluencer, fell in love, or be standing here today, I wouldn't believe it. 
And so, if we flashed back to your first day of classes, I guarantee you that you would not be able to script the journey life has taken you on thus far. 
I'm sure there is some uncertainty as to whether you would be sitting here today. 
Even with that uncertainty, you had something more powerful. 
You had trust. 
Trust in your family and friends. Trust in the amazing faculty, staff and administrators here at IC. 
You trusted that we would help guide you to this very day. 
But more importantly, you had trust in yourself. 
You had trust in the process. 
And so class of 2026, your time begins now. 
Today, we start a new clock. 
One that may be filled with uncertainty, but also with incredible opportunity. 
And while we may not know what the future holds, trust in the process, and more importantly, trust in yourself. We are so proud of each and every one of you. Don't forget that it is and will always be a great day to be a bomber. Thank you.