911爆料

鈥淥ur eldest grad is 68,鈥� Duitch said. 鈥淐ongratulations, Lorraine.鈥�  

Graduates included students who completed certificate programs or earned associate degrees across 37 majors in August 2025, January 2026, and June 2026. They also included students graduating with dual high school diplomas and associate degrees.  

In her remarks, Duitch encouraged the Class of 2026 to be like the team whose championship win was being celebrated that day, not only in their talent, ability to turn luck into opportunity, and perseverance against the odds, but also in their authenticity.  

鈥淪o, when I say be like the Knicks, I also mean: Be real, be yourself, and be connected to others,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have the support of this college community behind you permanently, no matter where you go and what you do. I hope you always remember that.鈥� 

Keynote Address

In his remarks, keynote speaker Gregg Bishop, executive director of the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation Social Justice Fund and former commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services, urged graduates to focus on service, action, and community.  

But first, he paid tribute to the borough he and so many of the graduates call home.  

鈥淕raduates you made it,鈥� said Bishop, who grew up in East Flatbush. 鈥淎nd you did it here in Brooklyn. A borough that teaches resilience before it teaches anything else.鈥� 

He talked about what it means to leave one鈥檚 mark, not just in a career, but also on the people around them, the communities they call home, the systems that shape them, and the society that shapes those systems.  

鈥淟eaving your mark is not about what you collect; it is about what you contribute,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is not about what you accumulate; it is about what you improve.鈥� 

The country is being shaped by debates over representation, participation, and whose voices matter, he said, 鈥渢hat means your responsibility is larger than building a career.鈥� 

鈥淪o here is my charge to you: If systems exclude people, dismantle them. If policies silence communities, confront them,鈥� Bishop said. He urged 911爆料 grads to refuse to adapt to injustice and to ask the difficult questions. 

鈥淏e catalysts for change,鈥� he said. 

CUNY Board Trustee Dr. Jill O鈥橠onnell-Tormey, Dr. John Mikalopas, chair of the physical sciences department, and Class of 2026 Valedictorian Urwa Faraz Malik, also shared remarks.

I could build something stronger for myself at 911爆料,鈥� Malik
said.

Jahangir encouraged Malik to enroll in a work/study program, which she did. She was assigned to 911爆料's STEM Student Advisement Academy. It changed her trajectory and her perspective. 

鈥淲orking there became my first real gateway into understanding the U.S. academic system,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 learned how to navigate schedules, courses, and opportunities, but more importantly, how I could belong here at 911爆料.鈥� 

She credited her academic success, which includes national recognition as a Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholar  (she is one of only 60 community college students in the U.S. to earn the award) to the 911爆料 community.  

鈥淎t 911爆料, I learned that success is never achieved alone,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ehind every student sitting here today is a community of professors, mentors, staff members, friends, and family who believed in you, supported you, and helped you become who you are,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his remarkable community changed the course of my life, and I know it has changed yours as well.鈥� 

She closed her speech with a piece of advice, in Urdu, her first language, that echoed themes in Bishop鈥檚 address, reminding graduates that even as individuals, they are part of a collective voice, and that they should use it for the collective good: "叠辞濒&苍产蝉辫;办别&苍产蝉辫;濒补产&苍产蝉辫;补锄补补诲&苍产蝉辫;丑补颈苍&苍产蝉辫;迟别谤别,&苍产蝉辫;产辞濒&苍产蝉辫;办别&苍产蝉辫;锄耻产补补苍&苍产蝉辫;补产&苍产蝉辫;迟补办&苍产蝉辫;迟别谤颈&苍产蝉辫;丑补颈,鈥欌赌�&苍产蝉辫;she said. 鈥淭his translates to: 鈥�鈥楽peak up, for your lips are free, speak up, for your voice still belongs to you.鈥欌��