Fordham University celebrated its 181st commencement on Saturday, May 16, recognizing the Class of 2026 and their achievements under the sunny skies of an early summer day.

The event took place at the Fordham Rose Hill campus, beginning with a 10 a.m. procession of graduating bachelors, masters and doctoral students across all Fordham schools on Edwards Parade. Fordham conferred approximately 5,682 academic degrees, 446 of which were from Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC). All degrees were officially conferred by University President Tania Tetlow. 

American broadcaster and journalist Hoda Kotb delivered this year’s keynote address before receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the university. Kotb addressed the graduating class with warmth and humor, focusing her speech on themes of rejection, resilience and finding purpose long after college. 

“I am so happy to be here,” Kotb told the graduating class as cheers erupted across the lawn. Thanking President Tetlow, Kotb opened her speech with a personal recount of life lessons learned for graduates entering an uncertain world. 

“I looked back, and I was trying to remember who my commencement speaker was. No idea. I mean, maybe I was hot, like all the people sitting on this (sunny) side. Maybe I was a little hungover. I don’t know what it was,” Kotb said. 

“Class of 2026, the world is waiting for you. Go get them. Love you guys” Hoda Kotb, American broadcast journalist

The veteran broadcaster shared a story about graduating from college unemployed and unsure of what could come next. Kotb recounted driving through the southeastern United States with a resume tape searching for a television news job, where she was rejected from city after city. A news director in Virginia told her, “Hoda, my God, you are so not ready for Richmond. I mean, you are green and inexperienced. Good luck, bye-bye.”

“At the end of it: 27 rejections, 10 days and my mom needed her car back. So I started driving home depressed,” Kotb said. 

Lost in Mississippi and preparing to head home, Kotb spotted the local CBS station in Greenville, and after deciding to go in, she met a newly promoted news director named Stan Sandroni. Kotb said that meeting changed her life. 

“He said, ‘I like what I see.’ And I exploded in tears and realized this first life lesson, guys: You don’t need everyone to love you, you just need one. Find your Stan, find the one person who believes in you, okay? You’re going to find Stan,” Kotb said.

Throughout her speech, Kotb repeatedly encouraged graduates to embrace the uncertainty instead of waiting to feel fully prepared. Kotb also preached patience in her speech, citing that all of the blessings she received in life came after she turned 50. 

“Your trip’s not someone else’s trip. Don’t worry about who’s next to you. Don’t worry about if they get promoted before you. Don’t worry about if they get a house first. You run your race, ok?” said Kotb. “All of my blessings happened after 50. I know it sounds weird, all of them. I got the job of my dreams at the Today show. I got the family I’ve dreamt of — I have two kids now. Your blessings come when they come, and they come right on time.

Kotb ended her address by asking graduates to look down at their hands and think about the people who helped them reach this moment. 

“Graduates, look at your hands. Those are the hands that your parents held when you were learning to walk. Those are the hands that held the handlebars of your first bike. They’re the hands that held the crayons, the pencils, the pens and the backpacks,” Kotb said. “They’re the hands that moved all your stuff into Fordham, and those are the hands that are going to hold the diploma soon. So do me a favor: Turn around and just blow a kiss to your loved ones back there with that hand.”

“Your trip’s not someone else’s trip. Don’t worry about who’s next to you. Don’t worry about if they get promoted before you. Don’t worry about if they get a house first. You run your race, ok?” Hoda Kotb, American broadcast journalist

Moments later, Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” echoed through the speakers as Kotb sang along with graduates and families.

“Class of 2026, the world is waiting for you. Go get them. Love you guys,” Kotb said. 

Following commencement, graduates from FCLC, alongside their families and friends, gathered at the Walsh Family Library Lawn for the Diploma Ceremony. 

“Today, with pride, we recognize you, class of 2026, one by one for your academic accomplishments,” said Fordham Professor James McCartin, who opened the ceremony. “And we send you forth with great hope, and also a little bit of sorrow, at your leaving.”

Dean of Arts and Sciences Jessica Lange reflected on her first year at Fordham, which coincides with the students’ senior year, describing the journeys of the seniors and herself as “parallel narratives.” 

“Watching you navigate this place with such confidence and wit has been my own best education,” Lange told graduates. “You taught me what it means to be a fully formed member of the Fordham community and a true Ram.”

“Despite the current landscape of hate, misinformation and division, you have always belonged here,” Cortez said. “Our presence in spaces like these is both significant and necessary.” Rebecca Cortez, FCLC ’26

Rebecca Cortez, FCLC ’26, was the featured student speaker for this year’s diploma ceremony, graduating from Fordham as a humanitarian studies major and Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award recipient. Cortez delivered a speech centered on identity, resilience and belonging.

Cortez opened by recalling the first time she was told she “didn’t belong” as a child because of her Puerto Rican background. Cortez described her years of navigating assumptions, microaggressions and the pressure to constantly prove herself in academic and professional spaces.  

“For a long time, in every room that I stood in, from a classroom to a job, I felt like I had to be exceptional in order to just be noticed,” Cortez said. “It felt like there was never room for anything less than perfection.”

She said her true comprehension of belonging changed thanks to her family, particularly her parents and grandmother, whose sacrifices shaped her path to graduation. 

“My family, the people many will say take more than they give, are the people that I most wanted to become,” Cortez said. 

Speaking to her classmates directly, Cortez acknowledged the challenges many students may have faced while navigating college during a politically and socially divided time. 

“This is the most special, diverse community that I’ve ever had the privilege to be a part of. Standing in front of me, our future lawyers, doctors, politicians, dancers, artists, journalists and so much more — a group of people whose spirits are immeasurable,” Cortez said. “But in this moment of history, in which every day feels like a headline promoting who belongs and who doesn’t, so many of us are torn down and diminished for some of the most beautiful parts of ourselves.”

The speech drew one of the ceremony’s loudest ovations when Cortez spoke directly to fellow Hispanic graduates.

“Despite the current landscape of hate, misinformation and division, you have always belonged here,” Cortez said. “Our presence in spaces like these is both significant and necessary.”

The ceremony then shifted to the formal conferring of degrees, with the graduates called individually to the stage as their names, majors and honors were read. 

The event concluded around 3 p.m. with a benediction from George Drance, S.J.  

Information regarding the 2026 commencement, including the livestream of the main commencement ceremony and school-specific diploma ceremonies, can be found here.