This year\u2019s University Medalist, Charles Long Jr.,<\/a> praised the many \u201corganic intellectuals\u201d in the graduating class \u2014 students who came to college not to escape their communities, but to learn how to serve them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cI see what you carried,\u201d Long said. \u201cFamily responsibilities and pressure. High rent and endless debt. Grief and depression. Disabilities and illness. Long shifts and late nights \u2014 and still, you made it here. You are amazing. So please, give yourselves a hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
A sociology and social welfare double-major who overcame incarceration, homelessness and a difficult childhood to graduate as this year\u2019s top senior, Long underscored the importance of embracing one\u2019s differences to forge an authentic life.<\/p>\n
![\"University](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/commencement-2026-16_by-Ellie-Sahand-1024x585.jpg\")
Charles Long was named this year\u2019s University Medalist. To his fellow graduates he said, \u201cYou made it here. You are amazing. So please, give yourselves a hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellie Sahand\/UC Berkeley<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world does not need us all to agree on everything. It does need us to remember that we belong to one another,\u201d Long said. \u201cAcross our differences, we share a responsibility to leave people more free, more safe, more seen, and more loved than we found them. And when doors close around you \u2014 because some will \u2014 don\u2019t be afraid to build your own. Then hold that door open so someone else can walk through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For this year\u2019s graduating students, those ideas reverberated as they reflected on the most memorable parts of their Berkeley journey.<\/p>\n
Ato Aliping, a sociology major who aspires to one day practice law, reflected on the sacrifices that his parents, both immigrants from the Philippines, made to allow him to attend Berkeley. He noted that he might be the first person in his family\u2019s tribe to graduate, and proudly wore its colors to represent the achievement.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/commencement-09-2560_Ellie-Sahand-1024x585.jpg\")
Sociology major Alicia Valenciana plans to be a school psychologist, to help students who don\u2019t have support systems at home.<\/p>\n
Ellie Sahand\/UC Berkeley<\/p>\n
When asked what it meant to his family to see him here today, he didn\u2019t mince words: \u201cEverything. Everything,\u201d he said. \u201cThey were looking for a better life. My dad, he was in the U.S. Navy for 30 years, and I\u2019m here on the GI Bill with his military benefits. They sacrificed a lot for me to be here. I owe a lot to them. And I want to represent my community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others reflected on personal challenges they had to overcome to make it to this joyful day. When Alicia Valenciana first arrived at Berkeley as a neurobiology major at age 17, she says she struggled. \u201cThere was a lot going on back home mentally, emotionally,\u201d she recalled, leading to academic challenges and ultimately having to leave school for a period.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was able to gain readmission as a sociology major a few years later, and now plans to be a school counselor. \u201cThere are so many students who don\u2019t have support systems at home, so school psychologists are really needed,\u201d Valenciana said.<\/p>\n
For Jared Kazhe, club Frisbee became much more than a sport he loved; the people he met through it, including fellow graduates Kyle Kim and Kainoa Huttendorf, ended up becoming family. \u201cIt\u2019s my strongest community by far,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kazhe, who is Mescalero Apache, wore regalia to honor his Native identity and community at commencement. His uncle beaded his mortarboard, he said, and he wore a beaded medallion that his grandmother made for him with his tribal seal stitched onto his stole.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Na-Lee-Her-by-Melissa-Gutierrez-683x1024.jpeg\")
Film and media studies major Na Lee Her is excited to \u201cgo out into the world and explore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marissa Gutierrez\/UC Berkeley<\/p>\n
He also wore an eagle feather symbolizing strength and power. \u201cYou get it out in times of great accomplishment,\u201d Kazhe said.<\/p>\n
Na Lee Her, a film and media studies major, says the network of support and sense of belonging she found at Berkeley made her college journey meaningful. \u201cBeing able to meet new people \u2014 and also find out more about myself \u2014 that\u2019s one of the best things,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her, who is Hmong, wore a stole with intricate blue and white embroidery called Paj Ntaub. She noted that few Hmong students attend Berkeley, and that the stole was a way to celebrate her roots.<\/p>\n
After graduation, Her plans to stay on campus to build up experience in film production. \u201cI do plan on going to New York someday,\u201d she said. \u201cI really like being able to be on site and to do everything that the people are doing to make a movie go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her advice to incoming students? Don\u2019t give up, even if things seem challenging in the moment. \u201cOne bad thing is not going to ruin your entire day,\u201d she said. \u201cFeel it and let it pass and do your best.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the ceremony concluded, the former students rose to receive their degrees, moving tassels from the right to the left. The space rang with cheers and applause. Berkeley\u2019s newest alumni left the stadium with encouragement to go out and make a difference in the world. They seemed ready.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday morning marked UC Berkeley\u2019s 2026 campuswide commencement ceremony, where more than 7,000 graduating students gathered at California…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[123280,133486,143,145,144],"class_list":["post-319846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-commencement-2026","tag-graduation-2026","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Chancellor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/commencement-2026-03-2560_by-Keegan-Houser-1024x585.jpg\")
On a bright sunny graduation day, Chancellor Lyons encouraged students to always strive for connection over division.<\/p>\n![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/commencement-2026-17_by-Ellie-Sahand-1024x585.jpg\")
This year\u2019s keynote speaker, Robert Reich, emphasized the unique power Berkeley grads hold to make positive change in the world.<\/p>\n