{"id":108924,"date":"2026-05-18T14:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T14:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=108924"},"modified":"2026-05-29T15:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:15:23","slug":"commencement-2026-pomp-and-circumstance-aplenty-as-uri-celebrates-achievements-of-4000-plus-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2026\/05\/commencement-2026-pomp-and-circumstance-aplenty-as-uri-celebrates-achievements-of-4000-plus-graduates\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement 2026: Pomp and circumstance aplenty as 溏心vlog免费B站 celebrates achievements of 4,000-plus graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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溏心vlog免费B站 President Marc Parlange applauds the Class of 2026 graduates who received their degrees over the weekend. (溏心vlog免费B站 Photos\/Michael Salerno)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 18, 2026 \u2013 Standing center stage in a packed Ryan Center, Marc Randolph drew on lessons from high school baseball and co-founding Netflix to deliver one clear message to 溏心vlog免费B站 graduates: success isn\u2019t about perfect plans\u2014it\u2019s about showing up, adapting when luck arrives, and defining what truly matters to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m convinced that a huge part of success in every field is luck,\u201d said Randolph, who co-founded Netflix in 1997 and was the company\u2019s inaugural CEO. \u201cI know, we\u2019re not supposed to say that out loud. But it\u2019s OK, because an even bigger part of success is preparing yourself to take advantage of luck when it arrives\u2014and preparing yourself to adapt when it doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Marc Randolph, Netflix\u2019s co-founder and inaugural CEO who received an honorary Doctor of Laws from 溏心vlog免费B站, said in his address to the College of Business graduates that success comes from repeatedly showing up and pursuing unlikely ideas so you\u2019re prepared when opportunity finally appears.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Randolph spoke during the College of Business Commencement, one of eight graduation ceremonies held May 15-17 that celebrated 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Class of 2026. The University awarded graduate and undergraduate degrees to more than 4,000 graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randolph, who received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, told graduates that failure and luck often shape success more than careful planning. He recalled how he and co-founder Reed Hastings unsuccessfully tried to sell Netflix to Blockbuster for $50 million in 2000\u2014a rejection Randolph once considered the worst moment of his career, but which ultimately allowed Netflix to grow into a global streaming giant. Drawing on a baseball metaphor about always \u201cbacking up first base,\u201d Randolph said success comes from repeatedly showing up and pursuing unlikely ideas so you\u2019re prepared when opportunity finally appears.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sights and sounds from a memorable commencement weekend<\/h2>

Some 40,000 family members and friends converged on the Kingston Campus, May 15-17, to celebrate 溏心vlog免费B站’s newest alumni.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

WATCH<\/div><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n

Along with Randolph, 溏心vlog免费B站 alumni Daniel L. Harple Jr., chair and CEO of Context Labs; and Katherine Angell Brewster, CEO of South Kingstown-based Jonnycake Center for Hope, were also awarded honorary doctorates<\/a> during the weekend ceremonies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harple, who offered advice to graduates during the College of Engineering ceremony, urged graduates to embrace engineering not just as a profession but as a way of thinking about leadership, innovation and human connection. Reflecting on a career spent developing collaborative technologies that helped pave the way for modern tools like FaceTime and Zoom, he encouraged students to stay \u201cclose to the edge\u201d of new ideas, resist narrowing their ambitions, and approach artificial intelligence as a tool guided by human creativity rather than a replacement for it. Above all, he told graduates they were prepared for an uncertain future and left them with a simple mantra: \u201cLove. Serve. Remember.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Graduates from the 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Health Sciences were eager to receive their degrees on May 15.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Additionally, Gov. Daniel J. McKee, 溏心vlog免费B站 President Marc Parlange, Board of Trustees Chair Margo Cook, and other University officials offered congratulations, reflection and encouragement to the graduates <\/p>\n\n\n

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溏心vlog免费B站 President Marc Parlange greets a graduate on stage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Parlange spoke about how this year\u2019s graduates and the moments they created at 溏心vlog免费B站 offered reasons for \u201chope\u201d\u2014Rhode Island\u2019s state motto. What he saw in this class was not disengagement or cynicism, Parlange said, but rather resilience, compassion, humor, ambition and caring for one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHope is not blind optimism. It is built through those friendships you made, through navigating challenges, through responsibility, curiosity, and service to something greater than yourself,\u201d Parlange said. \u201cAnd it will carry you through times where there is nothing to believe in but hope. After these past four years, I can think of no better reason to remain hopeful than all of you\u2014the Class of 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cook told graduates that opportunities exist, even when the world feels the most uncertain and chaotic. <\/p>\n\n\n

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The Ryan Center on the 溏心vlog免费B站 campus was at near capacity during the College of Arts and Sciences ceremony on May 16.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe world outside these doors is noisy. But I\u2019ve spent a career finding opportunity inside noise\u2014as an investor, and as a woman in rooms that weren\u2019t always built for me,\u201d Cook said. \u201cI learned that sometimes you have to work harder to be seen, but that is not a reason to shrink. It is a reason to be excellent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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A 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate waves to her family in the stands in the Ryan Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Along with acknowledging that 溏心vlog免费B站 was for the second year in a row ranked the top public university in New England by The Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a>, McKee shared with graduates the advice his father\u2014a local business owner who helped establish the Boys & Girls Clubs in Cumberland\u2014gave him. Success is there for you, he said, and all you have to do is earn it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have certainly earned it with your degrees today,\u201d McKee said during College of Business ceremonies. \u201cI can\u2019t begin to tell you how proud I am as your governor to celebrate this day with you and the families that you love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Skyla Anderson, who received her bachelor\u2019s degree in public relations, spoke to her fellow College of Arts and Sciences graduates on May 16.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Olivia Rose Skapczynski described her journey through 溏心vlog免费B站 over the last four years as \u201ca roller coaster in the best way.\u201d Skapczynski, a Guilford, Connecticut resident who earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in dietetics with a minor in kinesiology from the College of Health Sciences, said along with learning to become a healthcare professional, she also learned a lot about herself as a person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people I have close to me have been huge,\u201d said Skapczynski, who will take online graduate classes at 溏心vlog免费B站 next year with the goal to become a registered dietician. \u201cThe saying is \u2018the five people you surround yourself with most are who you become most like.\u2019 The people I chose to surround myself with have shaped me into a better person I couldn\u2019t have imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just the academics that made 溏心vlog免费B站 enjoyable for Tewksbury, Massachusetts, resident Alexander Arbogast, who graduated in three years with a bachelor\u2019s degree in criminal justice from the College of Arts and Sciences. He\u2019s had a successful run\u2014literally and figuratively\u2014with 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s men\u2019s track team, which won its 17th Atlantic 10 Conference championship this spring<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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溏心vlog免费B站 graduates bounce around beach balls in celebration after the commencement ceremonies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve set the standard every year on the track. Celebrating with my teammates with the trophy has been the best moment for me,\u201d said Arbogast, who is returning to 溏心vlog免费B站 next year to pursue his MBA. \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed winning, this campus and faculty. The professors have all been incredible. I\u2019ve been truly blessed with this school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arbogast\u2019s future plans include law school and hoping to run, and win, in local politics in his home state\u2014and continue a family tradition. \u201cMy grandfather was a state representative for 40 years,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve done two internships with local senators and I\u2019ve loved every minute of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words of wisdom, encouragement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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A decorative 溏心vlog免费B站 \u201cRam\u201d cap is worn by a graduate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Nine student speakers<\/a> addressed their fellow graduates during the weekend\u2019s eight commencement ceremonies, sharing their journeys at 溏心vlog免费B站, the challenges they\u2019ve overcome, the opportunities they\u2019ve seized, and how their experience at the University helped build their character and shape them into the people they are today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia Johnson, who received her doctorate in physical therapy, told her fellow College of Health Sciences graduates her patients often reminded her that healing is not just physical, but it\u2019s also deeply personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach individual we encounter carries their own story, shaped by culture, family, hardships, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

hope,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cOur patients will not fit into a single mold. They will challenge us, teach us, and trust us often at their most vulnerable moments. And that trust is a privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordyn Hickey, a first-generation student, said in her speech during the College of Business ceremony that the world will meet you with two hands, she said. One hand holds a flower representing celebration and a feeling that everything is falling into place, Hickey said, and the other holds a stone\u2014representing rejection. Hickey told her fellow graduates to take recognition with humility, setbacks with determination, and to keep moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we move into the next chapter\u2014into new careers, new cities, new challenges, and opportunities we can\u2019t even see yet\u2014I hope we remember this: There will always be people ready to hand you a flower, and there will always be something that feels like a stone,\u201d said Hickey, who earned her master of business administration. \u201cTake both and build something extraordinary anyway. Because the measure of what we\u2019ve accomplished is not in the titles we hold\u2014it\u2019s in the resilience we built on the way to earning them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skyla Anderson\u2019s journey through 溏心vlog免费B站 was inspired by her mother, who immigrated to the United States from Cape Verde for better opportunities and pushed Anderson from a young age to take education seriously. Anderson, who received her bachelor\u2019s degree in public relations from the College of Arts and Sciences, said she was privileged to see her mother walk across the same Ryan Center stage as a 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate four years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI watched her dedication and hard work, and I would not be where I am today without her,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI know many of you carry similar stories of parents or family members who believed in the power of opportunity and encouraged you to keep going even when things were difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gianna Petrangelo, who earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing, recalled to her fellow College of Nursing graduates how she got \u201cpunched in the face\u201d during her very first nursing shift\u2014which at the time felt like the worst possible start. Looking back, though, it was an accurate introduction to nursing, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the last four years, I\u2019ve realized that no matter how much you study, prepare, or try to get everything perfect, there will always be moments that catch you off guard,\u201d Petrangelo said. \u201cNone of us got here having everything figured out. We got here by learning, adapting, and continuing forward even when things felt difficult,\u201d she said. “Whether we realize it or not, we\u2019re capable of more than we think. And honestly, if I could get punched in the face on my first day of clinical and still come back the next shift\u2014I think we\u2019re all going to be just fine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Victoria Reilly, who graduated with a doctorate in mechanical engineering, told fellow College of Engineering graduates that no one went through their journeys at 溏心vlog免费B站 alone, and each graduate had a network of people who sacrificed, encouraged, and believed in them along the way. She also said time is our most valued resource, and how one utilizes it is critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to encourage each of you to optimize your time. Invest it in work that gives you purpose. Invest it in people who challenge and support you. And invest it in the balance that allows you to live fully,\u201d Reilly said. \u201cBecause in the end, the most meaningful measures of success will not be our titles or accomplishments. They will be the relationships we build, the impact we have on others, and the lives we help improve along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asta Habtemichael, who is from Eritrea, told graduates from the College of the Environment and Life Sciences and Graduate School of Oceanography in his speech that despite their differences in backgrounds or reasons for coming to 溏心vlog免费B站, everyone had a unified goal to create a better future. That, he said, helped forge a path for him and his fellow graduates to create a community at 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoving thousands of miles away from everything I loved and cared for was not easy. The cultural and environmental differences were real. However, I overcame those challenges and thrived at 溏心vlog免费B站, because I found a second home among the 溏心vlog免费B站 community,\u201d said Habtemichael, who graduated with a doctorate in oceanography. \u201cFrom my first Thanksgiving experience with my friend\u2019s family to the different on- and off-campus leadership roles, that community has shaped my professional journey and helped me in building lasting relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zoie Ndonye summed up her journey from Nairobi, Kenya, to 溏心vlog免费B站 in her address to CELS and GSO graduates through an old African proverb: \u201cHe who looks for honey must have the courage to face the bees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe meaning of this proverb is that one who has goals to find the sweetness in life, must also go through the bitter,\u201d said Ndonye, who received her bachelor\u2019s degree in animal and veterinary science. \u201cYou must be able to face the challenges that come along the way. And as you, Class of 2026, are seated here, there is no doubt, you have managed to find your honey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angel Vega, who became the first in her family to earn a master\u2019s degree, told her fellow Feinstein College of Education graduates that having doubt is not a sign that you\u2019re in the wrong place, but rather a sign that you\u2019re doing something that matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery person in this room has faced their own version of doubt, of fear, of wondering, \u2018Can I really do this?\u2019 But look at us. We chose to believe in something greater than our fear. That is not luck. That is not a coincidence. That is courage,\u201d said Vega, who earned her master\u2019s in college student personnel. \u201cAnd the same courage that carried us to this moment cannot just stay in this room. It must go with us into every space we enter, every table we sit at, every door we walk through. Because the world we are walking into doesn\u2019t just need our degrees. It needs our resilience, our voice, our story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prachi Patel learned more than just chemical structures in earning her Doctor of Pharmacy from the College of Pharmacy. She told her fellow graduates that their success is not achieved alone, but through the support of mentors who believed in their students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we step into our next chapters, whether that means further education, launching our careers, or embarking on new adventures, always remember to stay curious. Challenge what\u2019s already been said and done. Think bigger. Carry forward that spirit of determination and compassion that defines the 溏心vlog免费B站 experience,\u201d Patel said. \u201cWhen challenges arise, as they inevitably will, remember that this community has given us the tools to face them with confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 18, 2026 \u2013 Standing center stage in a packed Ryan Center, Marc Randolph drew on lessons from high school baseball and co-founding Netflix to deliver one clear message to 溏心vlog免费B站 graduates: success isn\u2019t about perfect plans\u2014it\u2019s about showing up, adapting when luck arrives, and defining what truly matters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":108925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1907,1910,12,88,30,25,4,56,41,5,1914,127,1912,1915],"class_list":["post-108924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-academic-excellence","tag-alumni","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-college-of-business","tag-college-of-education","tag-college-of-engineering","tag-college-of-health-sciences","tag-college-of-nursing","tag-college-of-pharmacy","tag-college-of-the-environment-and-life-sciences","tag-graduate","tag-graduate-school-of-oceanography","tag-special-events","tag-undergraduate"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108924"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109165,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108924\/revisions\/109165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}