Saturday, I had the honor of participating in UC Berkeley’s spring commencement. It was a beautiful day at Memorial Stadium. In addition to celebrating the Class of 2026, I had the chance to spend time with other extraordinary people, including alumnus Manu Meel, and graduate Charles Long.
Charles was honored with the University Medal, Berkeley’s highest accolade for a graduating senior. His story — chronicled here — is remarkable. Raised in California through the foster system, he spent years cycling in and out of incarceration and homelessness as a young man, including serving a two-year sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. When his parole ended, he was able to restart his life, earning trade school certificates and his associate’s degree. In the fall of 2022, at age 40, he transferred to Berkeley. As a sociology and social welfare double-major, he mentored incarcerated men at San Quentin and young people in juvenile halls. Oh, and he earned a perfect GPA. In his essay for the award, he wrote: “Through academia, I’ve learned to make sense of both the systems around me and the experiences that shaped me. But more importantly, I’ve learned to affect them.” What an endorsement for a UC education!
Manu, a 2020 Berkeley graduate, received the Peter E. Haas Public Service Award, one of Berkeley’s highest honors for alumni in public service. As a first-year student, he watched a campus protest shut down a controversial speaker and decided to do something about political division rather than argue about it. He co-founded what became BridgeUSA, a nationwide organization that has brought tens of thousands of students together across dozens of campuses for dialogue across differences. His simple idea at Berkeley is making a difference all over the country. Such leadership is needed more than ever.
Charles and Manu came to Berkeley by very different paths, but their stories point to a shared truth: A great public university does more than confer degrees; it helps people make sense of their experience and equips them to be citizens and leaders. Charles’s story reminds us that talent is often found where opportunity has been denied. Manu’s work shows that universities remain places where people must learn to disagree without giving up on each other. Those ideas were very much on my mind when I had the privilege of sharing some brief remarks with the Class of 2026, following Secretary Reich’s keynote.
Thank you, Chancellor Lyons. And thank you, Secretary Reich, for your words today, for all you have done for Berkeley, and for all you have done for our country. If I had any sense at all, I would simply say “what he said” and sit down!
To the Class of 2026: You are here today — now, let’s be honest — to hear one main thing: that you’ve graduated. And to the family and friends of the graduates who are here today: you’re here to celebrate one thing — their graduation. I’m just what you need right now; another suit, or another robe, before we get to the really important stuff of today. So, I’ll keep this brief.
I’ve been in higher education for almost 40 years, and I’ve been to hundreds of commencements during that time. They never get old. In fact, each one is better than the last. That means, of course, that today is the best graduation I’ve ever attended!
The graduates and their family and friends have so much to be proud of. Secretary Reich was looking at my notes, I think. I had planned to say — and I will say anyway — the University of California is the greatest university in the world. I don’t say “public,” and I don’t say “in the U.S.” Those are true, of course, but not enough. So, I’ll say it again: the University of California is the greatest university in the world. And you all belonged here. You all succeeded here. You all are now part of the UC Berkeley tradition of excellence forever.
You’re graduating at an interesting moment in time, and I use that word advisedly. We are seeing the greatest challenges to higher education and its values in my lifetime. We are seeing the most divided and destructive politics in my lifetime. We are witnessing the most exciting — and occasionally terrifying — advances in technology. We are seeing the most promising developments in science and medicine.
It’s a time of extraordinary change, and it presents challenges, to be sure. But it also presents enormous opportunities. And so I am gratified that you, among the most talented, grounded, principled members of your generation, will take the baton and meet the challenges and embrace the opportunities with energy, with innovation, and with humanity.
Most importantly, humanity. No matter how good Claude and its progeny are, it’s our humanity that distinguishes us and informs us at our best.
Now, my colleagues on the stage — at least the senior members among us — will do everything in our power to leave you with a Berkeley, and with a world, in good shape. But make no mistake: We most certainly will be leaving it to you. And I am comforted by that knowledge. You fill me with optimism — even more so today after hearing from Manu, from Abby, and from Charles.
We need Berkeley graduates in the world today more than ever. I can’t wait to see what you accomplish. Congratulations, Class of 2026, and Fiat Lux.
I appreciate having a President who confidently declares that “University of California is the greatest university in the world. And you all belonged here.” Thank you for fighting for what UC stands for.