A Commencement to Remember: Launching a Lifetime of Leadership and Service

Congratulations to the 300+ graduates of Palo Alto University’s Class of 2025, who gathered on June 14 at the San José Civic Center to celebrate the culmination of years of dedication, growth, and community impact.

Interim Provost Sharon J. Washington, PhD, opened the 46th commencement ceremony by honoring the network of family, friends, and mentors whose quiet support carried each student to this moment. “Any one of you who provided a meal when the student was too tired to cook for themselves…offered hugs and were there to listen about anything and everything,” she said, inviting graduates to recognize those who stood beside them.

In her final year at PAU, President Emeritus Maureen O’Connor, PhD, JD, accepted an honorary degree and delivered the keynote address. Drawing on her own journey through academic leadership, she reminded the new alumni that commencement is just the beginning. “Leadership matters, and there is no end point in learning how to lead effectively,” she told the crowd. She went on, “I’ve never gone a day without learning something about leadership,” underscoring that every client session, research collaboration, and community conversation offers fresh insight.

With that charge in their ears, bachelor’s and master’s candidates crossed the stage to receive their diplomas amid cheers and heartfelt embraces. Each name called marked the end of late-night study sessions and the start of new professional chapters.

The ceremony’s emotional high point came with the hooding of doctoral graduates. Under the bright lights of the Civic Center stage, faculty mentors draped hoods over shoulders that bore the weight of dissertations, clinical residencies, and years of rigorous scholarship. In that silent ritual, the room felt the depth of each student’s journey.

After President Emeritus O’Connor closed with her traditional commencement poem, the hall broke into joyful applause. Laughter and tears mingled as graduates embraced loved ones, stepping into the warm California afternoon. Armed with both expertise and empathy, the Class of 2025 departed ready to lead, to learn, and to serve communities near and far.