By Sandra Huffman ’86
The weekend of May 2 and 3 brought a series of celebrations to Wilson College, held under sunny but brisk skies and culminating Sunday on the Main Green, where the Class of 2026 gathered for commencement. With morning and afternoon ceremonies returning outdoors after recent indoor ceremonies caused by inclement weather, graduates marked not only the completion of their degrees, but a shared journey defined by resilience, reinvention, and confidence.
Keynote speaker Ken Ohashi, Brand CEO of Brooks Brothers and Nautica, captured the moment’s significance by urging graduates to “take a look around,” reminding them to savor the pride and community surrounding them. Acknowledging the uncertainty many graduates feel, he posed a question he hears often: “What will the world look like? And am I going to be OK?” His answer was simple and reassuring: “First of all, you’re going to be fine.”
Drawing from his personal history, Ohashi encouraged graduates to embrace the power of personal storytelling and recognize the strength in their own life experiences. “What’s your story?” he asked. “I promise you, every single one of you has one.” Whether shaped by hard work, family responsibility, or perseverance through challenges, those stories, paired with curiosity, he explained, will open doors.
Senior Class President and undergraduate degree program student speaker Vincent Natale ’26, a health and physical education major with a coaching minor, echoed that message. He reflected on how the senior class learned to move forward without certainty. “We learned how to show up and give 100% effort before we felt 100% ready,” he said. Natale highlighted the diverse paths students took to reach graduation, yet he noted their unity in shared persistence. “We kept showing up,” Natale said, even in doubt.
That spirit extended beyond undergraduate experiences. Graduate degree program speaker Shana Bonetti, a Master of Fine Arts major, reflected on returning to Wilson as an adult learner in search of purpose. “Taking a leap is exciting, but it is also terrifying,” she said, recalling moments of doubt alongside “glimmers” of joy in the classroom. Her journey, from career change to earning an MFA while balancing motherhood, reinforced the powerful truth that growth requires courage. As she reminded graduates, “You are never too old to set another dream, another goal or to dream a new dream.”
Together, the speakers offered a unified message to embrace your story, remain curious, and trust in the confidence you’ve already built. As Natale concluded, “we didn’t just earn degrees, we earned belief in ourselves.”
For an event program with a list of graduates, as well as a recording of the Commencement exercises, please visit www.wilson.edu/commencement.
