To the Class of 2026, welcome to this moment. You have earned it.
You arrived here carrying more than most people will ever see. You brought with you your languages, your histories, your hopes, often across oceans and always across distance. You stepped into systems that were not built with you in mind, in a country that did not always make it easy to be here, and still, you persisted. You finished.
That is no small accomplishment.
There is a particular kind of courage it takes to pursue an education far from home. To sit in classrooms where the cultural references are unfamiliar. To build community from the ground up. To learn how to call a place home that once felt foreign. You did not just move through this experience, you transformed it. Every perspective you shared, every question you raised from outside the assumed center, made this university more thoughtful, more honest, and more complete.
This year’s theme, Global Journeys, Shared Futures, U Lead the Way, speaks not only to where you have been, but to what lies ahead. The challenges that will define your generation do not recognize borders. They are shared human challenges, and they call for leaders who know how to navigate difference with clarity and purpose. You have already done that. You have lived it.
You are those leaders.
To the families in this room, thank you. Thank you for the sacrifices you made to make this moment possible. For the late-night phone calls, the care packages, the encouragement across time zones. Your love and your belief in these graduates is woven into every achievement we celebrate this evening.
And to our faculty and staff, thank you for seeing these students fully. For meeting them with patience, with mentorship, and with the high expectations they deserved. You are part of this success too.
So as you step forward into what comes next, whether that path takes you home, keeps you here, or leads you somewhere entirely new, carry this with you: the University of Utah is stronger because you were here, and the world will be better because you are in it.
Congratulations, Class of 2026. This moment is yours.
Remarks by Anastasia Fynn, Director of International Student & Scholar Services. Offered during the Class of 2026 Graduation Celebration, Wednesday, April 30, Gould Auditorium.
