(Music Playing) What a wonderful day.

My name is Eric Hegg, dean o the College of Natural Science.

And it is my great pleasure t welcome you to the commencement.

Commencement of the class of 2026.

This truly is my favorite time of the year because we get to honor our new graduates.

I get to congratulate them as they walk across the stage and see their excitement, the pride for all that they have accomplished.

Perhaps a little bit of sadness that they're leaving MSU temporarily, and the anticipation for all that awaits them.

This is truly an exciting time.

Congratulations!

We are all so proud of you soon to be graduates!

So to begin the ceremonies, we ask that our guests join the students in the singing of America the Beautiful.

Lead by Ameera Coleman, doctoral student of Music performance in the College of Music and accompanied by the MSU Wind Symphony under the direction of Mr.

Gabriel, a doctoral student in music conducting in the College of Music.

Please rise as you're able.

(Singing and performance of Star-Spangled Banner) Thank you.

That was wonderful.

You may be seated.

So, before we begin the well-deserved recognition of our graduates, there are several people who I would first like to recognize.

First, I'd like to welcome the Honorable Rebecca Bahar-Coo from the MSU Board of Trustees, and thank her for participating in the ceremony today.

I would also like to thank our name card readers from WKAR, Jody Knol and Melissa Ingells.

We are also gratefu for the services of Susan Hahayi who is providing our real time captioning.

We want to congratulate, Pranav Argarwal, who was selected as the banner carrier for the College of Natural Science.

And of course, a big thank you also is in order to the custodial staff and in fact, all of the staff of the Jack Breslin Student Events Center for all of their hard work today.

And finally, need to thank the assistant dean for academic and student Affairs, Heidi Purdy.

The academic advisors and all the members of the Colleg of Natural Science Undergraduate and Student Affairs offic for organizing today ceremony.

Let's give everyone a giant round of applause.

This year, the College of Natural Science Student Advisory Council has selecte the student speaker, Purvi Garg.

Purvi is an international student from Mansoura, India.

Today, she earned not one but two science degrees through the College of Natural Science.

One in astrophysics and one in data science.

Over the last four years, Purvi has not only been academically successful, she's also gotten highl involved in the MSU community.

She has been a membe of the Society of Women in Space Exploration the Astronomy Club, the society for Physics Students, and the Chemistry Club.

She was also the college representative for the Association for the Associated Students of Michigan State University, and served on the President's Student Council in 20 2024 and 2025.

She's also been highly involved in research.

She's involved in three separate projects.

One, was able to work on investigating the transient neutrino emissions with Doctor Murunisa.

She was also involved in analyzing light curves and conducted astronomy work with Doctor Joey Rodriguez.

And finally she was exploring the dynamical evolution of young binary system with Doctor Say, Seth Jacobson.

She currently volunteers for the Abrams Planetarium and the MSU Observatory, giving public presentations throughout.

Purvey has also worked as an undergraduate learning assistant in ISP 205, physics 231 and 232.

And finally, last but not least, purview has been a College of Natural Scienc Dean's Research Scholar and MSU Advancement Ambassador for the past two years, assistant director of Alumni engagement, Melody Venky shared with us and I quote Purv Garg is a fantastic storyteller, a motivator, an educator, and a true Spartan scientist.

Her adoration of astrophysics and data science emanate from all that she does, showing peopl the wonders of our university.

Next year Purvi plans to pursue graduate studies in Europe, focusing on asteroids.

Please join me in welcoming Purvi Garg to the stage.

The Spartans listen carefully.

Today.

We did it!

We crossed the finish line tha once felt impossibly far away.

There were nights when the path forward was uncertain.

When experiments failed, when deadlines felt heavier than hopes.

And yet stabbed by stab.

Question by question.

We kept going and tha persistence has brought us here.

Whenever I felt like giving up, my father always reminded me that I had already ran more than half the race.

That stopping just a few meters before the finish line would raise all the miles behind me.

Today I can finally say to him, I finished the race.

But standing here with all of you I realize something important.

This finish line is also a starting line.

Every person here ra a different race on a different track, with obstacles no one else can fully see.

Some of us struggle with the research failure, some with finances, some with mental health, and some with simply finding where we belonged.

No one else can fully see the struggle you carried, but everyone here carried something and none of us arrived unchanged.

For many of us, Michigan State was more than a campus.

It was the starting line.

This is where we learned no only equations and experiments, but how to think critically, how to fail productively, and how to begin again.

No matter where we go next.

This is where our trajectory changed.

You can leave Michigan State, but Michigan State never really leaves you.

Once you are Spartan, you carry that identity into every classroom, lab, and community you enter.

This growth have shown us that this rarely happens in a straight line.

It happens in late nights and quiet doubts and moments when continuing felt harder than stopping.

And yet, we are still here today.

But do not leave it all the answers.

We leave it something more important the courage to as better question, and the belief that what we choose to do next can truly matters.

We live read to begin again and ready to fail and still move forward, ready to believe that the smallest choices made day after day cannot shape a world far larger than ourselves.

We may not have every answer, but we have something more powerful the willingness to keep searching, the strength to keep going, and the hope to believe that what we do next matters.

And that is more than enough to begin.

So today is not just a celebration of what we have completed.

It is a commitment to what we will build next.

The next race.

Our work, our purpose our impact on the lives around us begins the moment we step beyond this stage and when the next part feels uncertain, when progress feels slow.

I hope you remember how far we have already come.

I hope remember that persistence has carried us here and it will carry us forward.

Because today we did more than finish the race.

Today we choose the next one.

Congratulations to the class of 2026 and always go green.

Thank you Purvi for thos wonderful words of inspiration.

And now the Honorabl Rebecca Bahar-Cook from the MSU Board of Trustees will greet the graduates and guests.

Thank you.

Dean Hegg and Purvi.

Thank you.

It's nice to see you again up here.

On behalf of the MSU Board of Trustees, I welcome all the graduates, families and friend who are with us this afternoon for the undergraduate commencement.

Under the Michigan Constitution, the Board of Trustees is the governing body of the university by whose authority degrees are grant awarded.

Today's ceremony represents the culmination of discipline, intellectual work and creative imagination.

Certainly, no small accomplishment for many of you and your families here today.

The sacrifices have been long and great.

The degree you have earned acknowledges your success and honors those who have encouraged it.

Our wish i that you will always be leaders who generously us your intelligence and knowledge to improve the quality of lif for your community, to advance the common good, and to renew hope in the human spirit.

Our faculty, the administrators and the MS trustees are very proud of you.

Please accept our warmest congratulations and best wishes.

I would like now like to introduce Doctor Lynmarie Posey the natural science associate dean for Undergraduate research to the stage.

Undergraduate education.

Sorry about that.

It is my pleasure to congratulate each of you who have demonstrated the academic excellence and Spartan spiri that has resulted in experiences on campus that you will carry with you as MSU alumni.

Your accomplishments reflect credit not only to you, but also to your support systems, your departments, the College of Natural Science, Science and Michigan State University.

At this time, we would like to recognize students who have received national and international awards.

As your name is called, please rise and remain so until all award winners have been introduced.

I would ask that you hold your applause until all students have been recognized.

The following students are recipients of national and international awards.

Eric Brodsky 2025 Goldwater Scholarship, Advanced Mathematics and Computational Mathematics and Honors College Siobhan Nagar Kar, 2026, NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering.

Biochemist and Molecular Biology, biotechnology, College of Natural Science and Honors College Aaron Philip 2024 Goldwater Scholarship 2026, Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, Physics and Mathematics and Honors College Jesse Sandhu 2025 Goldwater Scholarship, Chemical Physics and Honors College.

Grace Sharman, 2025 Goldwater Scholarship, Astrophysics and Computational Applie Mathematics, and Honors College.

Please join me i congratulating these outstanding students.

You may be seated.

This year, a significant number of the College of Natural Sciences class of 2026 is graduating with honors or high honors.

I would ask these student to please rise if they are able.

And they will join me i acknowledging their outstanding academic success.

Among these students are those who earned a 4.0 GPA throughout their time MSU.

Congratulations to all of yo for your amazing achievements.

You may be seated.

Every student who steps on Michigan State University's campu makes connections and memories.

You involve me.

Your wide array of experiences is what makes your time at MSU unique, and at the same time binds you with MSU and your fellow Spartans.

In recognition of your time spent at MSU.

We want to highlight some of the experiences our graduates have been involved in.

Please rise if you are able.

If you have been awarde a college department or program award.

You may be seated.

Please rise.

If you are a first generation college student.

You.

You may be seated.

Please rise.

If you've participated in the Charle Drews Science Scholars Program.

In the Residential Initiative for the study of the environment, Dale Stem Scholars Program as Stem Scholars camp Detroit.

Maid trio.

Magic or Spartan fly.

Please rise.

You may be seated.

Please ris if you have worked in and on, on or off campus job.

You may be seated.

Please rise.

If you've participated in community service.

You may be seated.

Please rise.

If you have won a scholarship.

You may be seated.

Please rise.

If you've participated in research, an internship, externship, or practicum experience.

You may be seated.

Please rise if you have transferred from another institution.

You may be seated.

Please rise.

If you have broken glassware in your chemistry laboratory course.

You may be seated.

Please rise.

If you participated in education abroad.

You may be seated.

Please rise.

If you have ever participate in a club, student organization, musical group, or played a sport on campus.

You may be seated.

Finally, please rise.

If you have intentionally or unintentionally fed a squirrel on campus.

Please.

You may be seated.

We would also like to recognize graduating seniors who have served in the armed forces, or will be commissione as an officer after graduation.

At this time, we would ask all veterans and those who are enterin military service to please rise.

Thank yo for your service to our nation.

You may be seated.

Congratulations to all the College of Natural Science graduates.

On behalf of myself, assistant Dean Heidi Purdy and the members of the That's-i Office of Undergraduate Academic and Students Affairs, it has been our pleasure to serve you.

Thank you.

Lynmarie.

Next, I am pleased to introduce our alumni speaker, Meredith Herman.

Doctor Herma earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Laboratory science in 2017, and her doctorate in osteopathic medicine from MSU in 2023.

She completed a pathology fellowship at the University of Toledo following her medical school graduation.

Currently, Doctor Herman works as an anatomic and clinical pathology residen at the University of Michigan.

Meredith, please.

Good morning.

Michigan Stat University graduates go green.

To the class of 2026.

Today is your day.

While graduation feels like a finish line, and your time on the banks o the Red cedar comes to a close.

This day is also a reminder you are standing at the threshold of something entirely new.

To the families, friends, an support systems in the stands.

This moment belongs to you, to thank you for being the voice on late night phone calls, the source of encouragement, and for some, the ATM machine.

You are hereby officially permitted to take as many pictures as your cloud storage allows.

Before we proceed, I'd like for us to check our pulse.

Everyone, please take two fingers.

Place them on your wrist.

Like this and find your heartbeat.

Do you feel that?

If yes.

Congratulations.

You have passed your final anatomy test and are officially cleared to cross the stage.

As a physician and pathologist.

My perspective is shaped b what I see under the microscope.

But today I've traded the lab bench for this podium to deliver your final lesson at Michigan State University.

And for the first time in four years.

I promise there is no quiz.

Think back to your first day on campus, moving into your dorm, navigating the bike paths and the cattle bus routes, and discovering that the best place to spend a Frida night was obviously the library.

Whether you spent your Saturdays in the roar of the Izone standing shoulder to shoulder at Spartan Stadium, or tucked away in a quiet study nook at the Union, what you will remember most is our community.

Community isn't just the person sitting next to you in Wells Hall.

It's the shared heartbeat o 500,000 alumni across the globe.

At any given moment.

It's the collective let's go state.

Echoing across campus as a Spartan marching band takes the field on a crisp fall afternoon.

It's that instant, unspoken bond when you spot a spartan green helmet in a crowded airport halfway across the world.

You lean on each other through the late night grind at the main library.

You found your voice cheering in this very basketbal arena during the sweet 16 run.

You learn that being a Spartan means more than wearing green and white.

It means you never have to walk the path alone.

During your time at state.

You navigated many firsts in your young adult life.

For some, it was a literal first.

First generation students.

The very first in your famil to wear this green cap and gown.

For others, it was a humble first.

Your first shattered beaker in a chemistry lab, and the realization that research is a lo messier than the textbook says.

And for some, not speaking from personal experience, it was the moment you realized you love to study so much.

You were willing to spend eight more years in school to become the first doctor in your family.

Whether you were pioneering a new career path or just surviving each exam.

The Spartan community has always been a home for those who lead the way.

You aren't just following in the footsteps of Spartan history.

You are the next chapter of the Spartan Legacy.

You follow Myrtle Craig Mowbray, who in 1907 became Michigan State's first black woman graduate.

Breaking barriers before women even had the right to vote.

You walk the same paths as Doctor Barbara Ross Lee, who proved that a Spartan could lead the field of medical education, and Doctor Terry Taylor, who spends her days in Malawi showing that a Spartans will can save lives across the globe.

This will isn't just a campus legend.

It's an intergalactic force.

It's in the hands of Terry Hymes, sending commands to rovers across the silent plains of Mars.

It's in the work of Frederica Brindisi, whose MSU grown seed have orbited the moon to help us learn how to sustain life among the stars.

From the depths of the microscope to the vastness of space.

Make Spartans are there.

And now so are you.

You are the proof for those coming after you that this is possible.

But as any scientist knows, life rarely follows the textbook.

There is no linear path.

But you are innovators.

You are problem solvers.

You are Spartans.

So, class of 2026, my final homework assignment for you today is to be this be the catalyst.

In chemistry.

A catalyst doesn't just sit in a beaker.

It makes the reaction happen.

That is who you are.

Spartans shine wherever they go.

Even if you find yoursel behind enemy lines in Ann Arbor, they'll still notice that unmistakable green glow wherever you go next.

Whether it's a hospital, a lab, NASA, or a path we haven't even named yet you carry that spark with you.

You see, at Michigan State Spartans, will isn't just a phrase we put on brochures.

It's a verb.

It is a daily decision.

Spartans make to keep going when the experiment fails.

When the shift is long, or when the goal feels a decade away.

The world needs your talent and your willpower.

So, Spartans, go forth.

Take the precisio of your education and the fire in your heart to make this world better than you found it.

And remember why your heart beats.

It beats for the communities that need you.

The people who supported you.

And it beats for the future.

You are about to build.

Congratulations.

Class of 2026.

Go green.

Thank you, Meredith, for those wonderful words.

And thank you for joining us today.

We really appreciate it.

Okay, graduates, are you ready?

Will the class of 2026 from the College of Natural Science please rise?

On behalf of the president who has dedicated to him the authority of the State of Michigan vested in the Board of Trustees, I confer upon all of you the degrees to which you have been recommended, with all the rights and distinctions to which they entitle you, according to custom.

You may now move the tassel from the right side of your caps to the left.

Congratulations, our newest MSU alumni.

You may be seated.

Now, there's also a very large group of individuals who have contributed greatl to your journey with their love, understanding, and support to the achievements that w recognize at today's ceremony.

Accordingly we ask that the support systems, the friends, the parents, the grandparents, the partners, the children, the brothers and sisters anyone who has played a significant rol in supporting these graduates.

Please rise and let us give, give you the opportunity to express our gratitude and thanks.

Thank you again.

Family and friends and supporters.

Your interest in these graduates is shared equally by the faculty of the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University.

Their contribution to our graduates is an essential support in the success that they have achieved, and the source of a great pride to us.

I ask that the representatives of the faculty please rise and accept our gratitud for all of their contributions.

Thank you.

You may be seated.

We will now present the diplomas to the graduates.

I will be accompanied in making these presentations by Heidi Purdy, assistant dean for academic and student affairs.

I ask that the new graduates be escorted to the stage to receive their token diploma.

Doctor Stewart, test summer undergraduate director in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is the chief marshal.

Doctor Lynmarie Posey, associate dean, will introduce the members of the platform party and the marshals who will enjoy, who will escort the new graduates.

It is important for all graduates to return to their seat afte receiving their token diplomas.

Please support your fellow graduates by standing to recognize all of their accomplishments and hard work.

And.

I am pleased to introduce Professor Robert Maleczka from the Department of Chemistry and the Air Marshal, doctor Sheba, a cheery academic advisor.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I am pleased to introduce Professor Victor Derrida, chairperson, Department of Microbiology, Genetics and Immunology, and their marshal, doctor Jeanine Scott undergraduate program director, on behalf of the faculty and staff of the Department of Microbiology, Genetics and Immunology.

I'm pleased and proud to present these graduates.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I am pleased to introduce Professor Olorunseun Ogunwobi, chairperson, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and their Marshall associate Professor Charles Hoekstra, an assistant undergraduate director.

I am pleased to present the graduates from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I am pleased to introduce Associate Professor Willie Wong from the Department of Mathematics and their marshal, Mr.

Brian Chadwick, academic advisor.

I am pleased to present the graduates from the Department of Mathematics.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) (Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I am pleased to introduce Professor Hao Zhang, chairperson, Departmen of Statistics and Probability, and their marshal, Docto Leonard Johnson, undergraduate program director.

I am pleased to present graduates from Department of Statistic and Probability.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I am pleased to introduce Professor Edward Brown, chairperson, Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering, and their marshal, Doctor Devin Sylvia, undergraduate program director.

On behalf of our faculty and staff, I am pleased and proud to present the graduates from the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I am pleased to introduce Professor Stephen Zepf chairperson, Department of Physics and Astronomy and their Marshall.

Mrs.

Joyce Mathew, academic advisor.

It is an hono to present the amazing graduate of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I. I am pleased to introduce Professor Karl Olson, chairperson, Department o Physiology and their Marshall.

Doctor Laurie Sahab, academic advisor.

I'm pleased to present the graduates from the Department of Physiology with majors in Neuroscience and Physiology.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I am pleased to introduce Professor Kevin McGraw, chairperson, Department of Integrative Biology, and their marshal Doctor Terry McElhinney, academic advisor.

All right.

Zoology and AI bio peeps lookin sharp in you're a gold stoles.

It's my great pleasure to introduce the graduates from the Department of Integrative Biology.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) (Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I am pleased to introduce Professor Megan Elwood-Madden from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and their Marshall associate professor Suzanna Dorfman, undergraduate program director.

I am excited to present these fantastic graduates from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

They are eager to study and contribute to our world.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I am pleased to introduce Associate Professor Gabriel Orting, director of the center for Integrative Studies in General Science, and their marshal, Mr.

Matthew Oni, academic specialist.

Oh.

I'm very proud to present the graduate of the Biological and Physical Integrative Secondary Science Education majors.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) I am pleased to introduce Professor John Gerlach, director, Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics Program, and their marshal doctor Kathy Haug, undergraduate director.

On behalf of the faculty and staff of the Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics Program, I introduce the candidates for biomedical laboratory Science and medical laboratory science degrees.

And these are the individuals that will influence your next health care encounter by producing the data.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) So I am pleased to introduce Doctor Cori Feta-Hartley director, Human Biology Program and their Marshall assistant professor Julie Oole.

Good morning.

It is my distinct honor and privilege to present the large and mighty 2026 class of human biology graduate.

(Conferral of degrees reading graduate names) Yeah.

All right.

We're almost done.

We got to give back just a couple of seconds here for everyone to get back to their seats.

But once again, congratulations, graduates.

And while we wait for the last of our graduates to return to their seats, I want to take a moment to thank all of the graduates here today.

Thank you for making MSU your home.

And thank you for all tha you have brought to our campus.

Your excitement, your curiosity and your passion have inspired and enriched all of us.

Thank you.

We are all so very proud of you.

I now invite all of you to join us in singing the first stanza of the alma mater, MSU shadows followed by the MSU fight song.

After singing, we request that our guests and graduates be seated and remain in their places until after the reception of a platform party and faculty.

(Singing and performance of MSU Alma Mater) (MSU Fight Song performance)