The Class of 2025 gathered in Barton Hall on Thursday for Senior Convocation. The event included speeches from University administrators, students on the convocation committee, performances from several student organizations and a keynote address by Misty Copeland.
Copeland is a renowned ballerina and the first Black woman to receive the position of Principal Dancer with the American Ballet Theatre in the company’s 75-year history. At 15, she placed first at the Music Center Spotlight Awards and in 2014, she was appointed to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition under the Obama administration.
Before her main remarks, Copeland recognized the “incredible” six student organizations that performed in Barton — Teszia Belly Dance Group, BreakFree, Bhangra, Mariachi Regional en Cornell, Sabor Latino Dance Ensemble and African Dance Repertoire.
“It is such an incredible honor to be here with you all today in this space, on this campus but in particular among this generation, a generation that has been shaped by an ever-changing world and that is now reshaping it right back,” Copeland said.
Copeland reflected that when she was asked to address graduating students, she “had a real moment” where she wondered what she had to offer to the class.
“No matter where we come from or where we’re going, we are all working with the same materials: discipline, doubt, resilience, vision and heart,” Copeland said. “Whether we’re standing on a wooden stage under the lights of Lincoln Center, sitting at a lab bench, in a classroom, behind a camera, at a protest, or running towards the unknown, we are all creating from the same toolkit.”
She offered the class five lessons and explained the “dance of becoming” that she experienced as a ballerina and she feels the class will also go through as they leave college.
She started by telling the class that as they begin their endeavors after college, to “start late, start wrong, start scared, but start.” She explained that when she started ballet at 13, she was “an old grandma” in the dance world and felt that she was behind before she even started. She explained that she had to work twice as hard as others to catch up and fought to be taken seriously.
“We live in a world obsessed with being early, being the first, being ahead, but life doesn't happen on a single timeline,” Copeland said. “Your timeline is valid.”
She then explained that “repetition is not failure” and compared it to the same ballet steps she has done “ten of thousands of times.”
“You will go through cycles, you’ll revisit the same lessons, you’ll have to say the same hard things to yourself more than once,” Copeland said. “That does not mean you are not growing, it means you are deepening your understanding.”
Copeland told the class that it should never have to “shrink to belong” and recounted the “years” she spent trying to make herself smaller “physically, emotionally and artistically” so she could fit into the “narrow image of what a ballerina was supposed to be.” She “realized that shrinking does not serve anyone” and told the class that they are “not too much.”
“You are enough,” Copeland said. “Your voice, your identity, your differences, those are all strengths. Don’t contort yourself to fit a mold that was never built for you. Break the mold.”
Copeland also told the seniors to find their people and never be afraid to stand alone. She asked the seniors to reflect on the community they built at Cornell and told them to “hold on and nurture” the bonds they created while at college.
“There will be seasons when you're the only one who believes in your dream,” Copeland said. “There will be moments where you stand alone and feel completely out of place. That doesn’t mean you’re wrong. Maybe it just means you are ahead of your time.”
Copeland told the graduating class to focus on purpose over perfection. She recounted that as a ballerina she felt like she was always striving for perfection.
“The truth is perfection is an illusion and chasing it only distances you from the things that really matter,” Copeland said. “Purpose on the other hand is real. It’s grounding, it connects you to something bigger than yourself. Perfection fades, yet purpose renders.”
She ended her speech by telling the audience that while Cornell has prepared them in “extraordinary ways,” called on students to allow Cornell to be the “beginning” of their curiosities.
“Whatever titles and accolades and moments of success come your way are beautiful, they matter but they are not the finish line, they are not the whole story, they are not even the peak,” Copeland said. “They are markers, they’re pauses in the music. They’re glimpses of what is possible when preparation meets purpose.”
At the end of her remarks, Copeland was awarded the Convocation Medallion, a tradition which began in 2001. The award recognizes “an individual for their meaningful contributions to society,” their success instilling the “desire to learn” and “dedication to undergraduate achievement and excellence” according to the University.
The Class was also addressed by Dean of Students Marla Love, who reflected on the experiences of the class.
“You have had one jam packed, eventful time here at Cornell,” Love said. “It’s been a joy being your dean of students and I have been inspired witnessing your growth and have had so much fun celebrating and supporting who you are and who you are becoming.”
She invited the class to be proud of each other before calling Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi to the stage, who returned from his spring sabbatical to be with the class.
“I was actually away on sabbatical this semester and while I technically don’t return for another week and a half I could not miss the chance to come here today and see all of you wonderful people and wish you well,” Lombardi said.
He recounted the memories he had with the senior class and called on them to “create more memories” and affirmed that this graduating class would always “be a part” of his memories.
The Convocation also included a video where faculty members wished the graduating class well and other members of the Class of 2025 shared their memories and experience at Cornell.
After the video, the Mariachi Regional en Cornell student organization gave a performance where a member of the group sang Frank Sintara’s “Theme from New York, New York” and was supported by the band.
Master of ceremonies and senior convocation chair Reagan Patterson ’25 delivered her approximately 13 minute long speech where she reflected on time and Cornell and offered lessons to the graduating class.
“Success is a whole lot like pregnancy, everyone says congratulations when it happens but no one knows how many times you have to get screwed to achieve it,” Patterson said.
Patterson told the Class about how to deal with adversity, telling a fictional story about how a mule was trapped in a well after being buried alive by a farmer. She called on the class to do as the mule had done and “shake it off and step up” each time they faced a challenge.
She also told the class of a “TikTok fable,” and lesson where a turkey is talking to a bull, wishing it had enough energy to get to the top of a tree. The bull told the turkey to eat its droppings and while it was able to get to the top of the tree, was shot down by a farmer the next day.
“The moral of the story is that BS can get you to the top but it is not guaranteed to keep you there," Patterson said.
Zeinab Faraj is the assistant sports editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can reach her at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
