More than 1,310 seniors marched at Class Day on May 19 as the Class of 2026 became College alumni.
The ceremony was held on the lawns between Butler and Low, with the graduates, the Alumni Parade of Classes and the faculty procession entering to the triumphant sounds of “Pomp and Circumstance.” Among the featured speakers were Dean Josef Sorett; keynote speaker Sara Just CC’88, executive producer of PBS News and senior VP of WETA; student speaker Tâm Chí Trương CC’26; and senior class president Sarayu Sitha Bethamcherla CC’26.
Trương took the podium early, delivering a message about love and the importance of community. The latter, he emphasized, includes not only close friends but also the people who offered everyday connections and care — from the classmate who shared their notes, to the one who shared an eyeroll at the elevator in Hamilton, to the dining hall workers, security personnel, professors and TAs. Trương assured classmates: “We’re ready [for what’s next], not because we have all the answers, but because we’ve learned how to be there for each other. If Columbia has taught me anything, it is this: You were never alone. And you never will be.”
Bethamcherla also spoke to community and its many complexities, taking a moment to celebrate student advocates across campus, “whether you held a leadership position formally or informally, if you ever took time out of your day to uplift the needs of someone other than yourself at this university, we all applaud you.”
Dean of Undergraduate Student Life Kamala C. Kiem and Dean of Academic Affairs Lisa Hollibaugh presented a number of awards, including to valedictorian Joseph Karaganis CC’26 and salutatorian Polina Mira Goldberg CC’26. Afterward, Columbia College Alumni Association president Raymond Yu CC’89, SEAS’90 announced the alumni prizes.
Just, who among her many journalistic accolades has won 16 Emmy Awards and seven Peabody Awards, set the theme for her speech early, telling the graduates that how well they embrace and lean into learning “is going to define so much of your life ahead.” In fact, she added, “I’d argue that your future and our collective future depend on your ability to keep learning.”
She stressed three types of learning — about yourself, about other people and about your values. Of the last, she said, “It will always be tempting to make something or someone else your guide and lose sight of your values as you strive for accomplishment, acceptance and even financial reward. There may be subtle calls to quiet your conscience, or to march in step with someone else’s lead. But when your values shine a bright neon light in your head, pay attention. You can act on those values every day.”
Sorett began by recalling the unique connection he shares with the Class of 2026, and how they started their journeys together four years ago — them as first-years, and he as the newly appointed College dean. He went on to emphasize that their College education was not designed to send them down one predictable path. Rather, he assured them, their education, both inside and outside the classroom, has prepared them for today’s world.
“You are graduating with the knowledge and habits of mind to walk into any room; to apprehend, participate in and — yes — lead the discussion. And influence its outcomes to positive ends,” Sorett said. “You have learned to think across boundaries and different perspectives — to listen and debate, compare and synthesize — in ways that are constructive and generative. All are essential skills at a time when questions are rarely confined to a single field, and where context and nuance are often ignored.”
He also spoke to how the graduates have cultivated their voices and core values, built relationships that will last a lifetime and “experienced what it means to be ‘in community,’ living and learning with people whose backgrounds, convictions, experiences and aspirations differed profoundly from your own.” This, he added, “has prepared you to engage others with empathy, patience and humility; to navigate moments of disagreement without disconnecting; and to understand what it means to be an individual within, and with respect for, a collective.”
Sorett concluded: “I have every confidence in your abilities, and that as you walk through the doors in front of you — today and in the years to come — you do so with nimble minds, with integrity and with intention. And you will shape the world that you want to see.”