SUNY Old Westbury concluded the year-long celebration of its 60th anniversary with a massive celebration of the Class of 2026 during the 60th commencement in campus history, an event filled with pomp, circumstance, joy and expectations.
Held at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, commencement honored approximately 1,150 undergraduate and graduate students from across the university’s four academic schools while celebrating the families, mentors, faculty and communities who helped them reach the stage.
Degrees were conferred from the School of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Education and School of Professional Studies, recognizing a diverse graduating class whose accomplishments reflect Old Westbury’s mission as Long Island’s only public liberal arts university.
Popular areas of study among the class include Psychology, Accounting, Childhood Education, Biological Sciences, and Public Health on the undergraduate level and Literacy Education, Childhood Special Education, Accounting, Mental Health Counseling and Taxation among graduate students.
Jurist asks graduates to take charge
This year's commencement speaker was The Honorable Sallie Manzanet-Daniels, associate justice in the New York State Appellate Division, First Department. Across a nearly 40-year legal career, Judge Manzanet-Daniels has earned a recognition for her thorough legal mind and for a career spent protecting New York and New Yorkers through the law. The youngest justice of Hispanic descent ever elected to the New York State Supreme Court when she earned the seat in 2001, she is recognized widely for her commitment to serving others and fighting for opportunities for the next generation of lawyers in New York State.
In her address, titled “Democracy: The Cornerstone of Freedom,” Judge Manzanet-Daniels recounted the historic tenets and principles on which the United States were founded. She then challenged students to engage in civic activities and discourse to help ensure that civil liberties and human rights - what she described as the “guarantees” of a modern democracy – are protected and able to flourish.
“My charge to you today is to go forth and renew America; put down your phone and read the U.S. Constitution because it is your generation’s turn to defend it,” said Judge Manzanet-Daniels. “Freedom is not free; you must engage in the civic affairs of your country, your community, your neighborhood, your street to secure the blessings of freedom.”
Having recounted her upbringing as a poor Hispanic girl in the Bronx, whose father was killed before her birth while intervening in a fight, whose mother exhibited the strength and perseverance to provide for and protect her four children, and who challenged herself to enter a career in the law and succeeded, Judge Manzanet-Daniels reviewed the work ethic she learned and the power it gave her to achieve her goals and then set new ones.
“You must dare to dream like the little girl in the South Bronx who from flames and ashes rose to great heights and discovered her best self,” she said. “Understanding that the only true obstacle to success is the reflection in the mirror.”
As she prepared to leave the podium, Judge Manzanet-Daniels dared the graduates to dream, urged them to envision a plan for their futures and to deliberately executive against it, and to at all costs fulfill the purpose they believe they have in life.
She closed by imploring: “Graduates, take charge – It’s your turn!”
Senior Speaker Urges Her Classmates to Make Change
Jayda Jarvis ’26, the senior selected to address her fellow graduates, delivered a powerful message to her classmates, celebrating the perseverance and growth they had achieved individually and collectively.
She also called on them to put what they have learned and experienced into action.
“As we leave here today, I hope we remember that the world does not just need successful people,” Jarvis said. “It needs compassionate people. Brave people. People willing to care about others in a time where empathy can feel rare. I truly believe the Class of 2026 has the power to become that generation. The generation that creates change. The generation that rebuilds community. The generation that chooses hope even when it is easier to become cynical.”
As she graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Economics and Law, Jarvis also reminded her peers that the day’s event stood as proof that they can succeed.
“Wherever life takes us next, never forget this moment…never,” she said. “Forget what it took to get here. Because if we were capable of making it through everything we already have, then there is no limit to what we can do next.”
President Sams describes graduates’ superpowers
In his remarks, SUNY Old Westbury President Timothy Sams congratulated the graduates on the time and effort they put into the pursuit of their educations.
“All of your hard work - the late nights, the long hours spent researching and studying - your grit, and all the ups and downs leading to this very moment were worth it,” he said.
He also pointed to what he described as a growing uncertainty and mean-spiritedness in the world and asked the Class of 2026 to use the “superpowers” that it developed while on campus.
“Given the chaos, dysfunction, and injustice in the world, we need you to put the knowledge and skills that you developed at SUNY Old Westbury to use - and to do so as quickly as possible,” he said. “We find ourselves in a time of pervasive anti-intellectual and anti-science sentiment, where instilling fear is normalized, mistrust is weaponized, and misinformation goes viral faster than actual fact. Your ability to think critically and come up with creative solutions to problems, while also acting with integrity, empathy, and compassion are your superpowers.”
Watch the Ceremony