Over 950 graduates across all degree levels were celebrated at the School of Business Class of 2025 Spring Commencement Ceremony at the Petersen Events Center on May 3, 2025. The student and faculty speakers shared words of encouragement and inspiration.
Henry E. Haller Jr. Dean Gene Anderson congratulated the graduates, telling them, “We come together to celebrate you, our students – your accomplishments, your contributions, and your futures. Futures that are filled with hope, optimism, and promise.”
Leading up to commencement, awards ceremonies were held for graduate and undergraduate students, along with staff and faculty. Students were inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, the national business honor society, before the commencement ceremony.
The graduates’ degrees included: Doctor of Philosophy; Executive Doctorate in Business Administration, MBA (including part-time, full-time and executive); Master of Science (MS); MBA/MS joint degrees; and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degrees, including students who also earned a degree from the College of General Studies, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences or School of Computing and Information.
All of the graduates’ names are available in the commencement program. Here is the video replay of the entire ceremony.
Graduate faculty speaker Tom Davis, clinical assistant professor of Business Administration, spoke at the Pete about what he hoped students learned beyond the coursework: the importance of being responsive, resilient, and respectful.
“We live in an age of increasing polarization and distrust. But in the spirit of discourse and dialogue, I hope you have learned to engage in good faith, treat others with compassion, and seek the common good,” said Davis.
The undergraduate faculty speaker, Eugenia Wu, associate professor of Business Administration, shared the best advice she received, hoping it would help the graduates. She told the students they should take the time to think about what matters, find people who support them, be open to new opportunities, and spend time outside.
“Class of 2025, as I think about your next chapters, I feel a sense of hope; after all, I’ve seen firsthand just how amazing you can be. Please know that as a school, we are all rooting for you to succeed,” said Wu.
Be Ready to Embrace Change
Eliana Goodman, the undergraduate student speaker, used the lyrics from a Grateful Dead song to capture the joy and the struggles students experienced to get to this point: “Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me. Other times, I can barely see. Lately it occurs to me… what a long, strange trip it’s been.”
She reminded her fellow graduates that they have what they need to succeed.
“Now, as we enter the post-graduate world with the emergence of AI, we know that there is much that will come our way and shape who we are yet to become,” said Goodman. “I know the combination of our experiences at Pitt, our perseverance and persistence, and the kindness in our hearts has prepared us to succeed in the journey ahead.”
The Power of Resilience
Jade Richardson, the graduate student speaker, shared all the times in her life that she had to pivot—changing her college major, mourning the death of her best friend while in college, needing a spinal fusion as a result of her scoliosis—and how overcoming these experiences led her to life’s purpose: starting a non-profit, Totally Screwed Up, to support others living with scoliosis.
“Your path won’t always be clean, it won’t always be clear, but it will be yours,” said Richardson. “Keep choosing you. Keep building what doesn’t exist yet. Because somewhere, someone is waiting for what only you can create.”
Dean Anderson’s closing remarks told the graduates, “Remember that true success is not about wealth or power. True success is about how well you use your personal talents and success for the betterment of others and our world.”