By Daniel Wilson

May 19, 2025

Sacramento State celebrated thousands of new Hornet alumni over the weekend as graduates, their families and their friends and guests packed into Golden 1 Center for Spring Commencement.

As more than 6,500 members of the class of 2025 walked the stage across six ceremonies May 16-17 in downtown Sacramento, each shook the hand of a representative of their college and President Luke Wood before celebrating their accomplishments with smiles, raised arms and other gestures.

They joined the more than 3,000 Hornets who graduated during Winter Commencement ceremonies in December, bringing the number of students receiving degrees this academic year to more than 9,000.

Among the graduates were this year’s Dean’s Award winners. During the final ceremony, Dean’s Award winner and President’s Medal recipient Jeffery Benson, who graduated in December, offered words of encouragement to his fellow Hornets.

“I would be remiss if I didn't salute every professor on stage with me, in the audience or watching via livestream – the program administrators who poured into me at Sacramento State, your wisdom helped me turn my vision into a reality,” Benson said during the College of Education’s ceremony on Saturday night.

“Thurgood Marshall once said, ‘None of us got here by ourselves. We got here by being pulled up by someone else.’ And I paraphrase, so don't forget where you come from and reach back and help someone else pick up their boots.”

In addition to the Deans’ Awards, which are given each year to one student from each of Sac State’s academic colleges, and the President’s Medal, which is awarded to the University’s top graduate, Sacramento State and the CSU conferred honors upon individuals who have provided outstanding service to the University, higher education and beyond. Honorary doctorates were presented to Thomas L. Karlo and Paul Lau, and the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service was awarded posthumously to Randy Solorio.

Wood addressed graduates – including 5,342 bachelor’s recipients, 906 graduate degree recipients and 312 credential recipients – reminding them that the end of one journey begins another.

“You’ve become experts not just in your fields but in persistence, because there’s no such thing as the light that shines better than yours,” said Wood, who throughout the two-day event took selfies with graduates, danced on stage and celebrated with energy and enthusiasm. “You wrestled with doubt, and you kept going. You juggled multiple responsibilities, but one would have been enough. You stayed enrolled when it would have been easier to have walked away. You built a life while building a future. That's not ordinary, that's extraordinary.”

• See more photos from Spring Commencement 2025

Wood highlighted the University as an engine for opportunity, calling out first-generation and transfer students, top graduates, veterans, and parents and caretakers who juggled school while raising families. He also acknowledged graduates’ families and supporters.

The sea of students on the arena floor showed their styles and personalities with decorated mortarboards, colorful leis and footwear ranging from strappy sandals to Hokas.

One graduate’s bright pink mortar board read “Biologist Barbie,” another’s “Finally Done with This BS.” Others carried phrases such as “My Turn to Teach,” “To My Daughter, Mommy Did It!,” “Yeah Somebody Gotta Do It,” and “A Dream begins with a Dreamer – 1st gen.”

During a “Grad Jam” celebration prior to the ceremonies, Hornets and their loved ones grabbed a microphone and shared thoughts about their journeys.

“It’s a great day to be a Hornet,” one student said. “Thanks Mom! Thanks Dad! Sac State is the place!” He blew kisses to his cheering family, shown on a big screen above him.

Some in the crowd waved cardboard replicas printed with their favorite graduate’s face.

Jessica Ha, who earned her bachelor’s degree in Health Science and plans to become a nurse, said she was glad to be at Commencement after completing a challenging journey.

“I’ve always had a passion to help others, especially my mom,” Ha said. “She had health problems while I was growing up, so she inspired my path. Going to college was hard, especially being first-generation and being Asian American.”

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Denyse MacMillan watched with pride as her daughter Bryce MacMillan graduated with a degree in Speech Pathology. Bryce will return to Sac State to pursue a master’s degree.

“I love her and I’m super proud of her,” Denyse MacMillan said. “She did this in three years. She never stopped. Winter classes, spring classes, summer classes. She was just very focused, very driven, just stayed in her room studying a lot.”

At the Health and Human Services ceremony, the college’s Dean’s Award winner Jesus Osvaldo Meza Nava told his fellow graduates that the education Sac State provides goes beyond the classroom.

“As a proud, first-generation Mexican American, I carry more than my own dreams across this stage today,” he said during his speech. “I walk with the hopes, the struggles, and the triumphs of generations who believed in something bigger and refused to give up.

“Here at Sac State, we weren’t just educated. We were shaped by the values of compassion, inclusivity, and excellence. Values we now have the responsibility to bring to the world.”

Jennifer K. Morita and Cynthia Hubert contributed to this report.