Fall Class of 2025 celebrated during Commencement ceremony

Grand Valley’s Fall Class of 2025 took the stage at Van Andel Arena on Dec. 6 during their Commencement ceremony.  

President Philomena V. Mantella welcomed graduates, offering words of encouragement as she reminded them that they are prepared for whatever comes their way. 

“Let’s acknowledge something truthfully: Stepping into what comes next can feel both exhilarating and unsettling,” Mantella said. “But here is what I want you to hear from me clearly: You are not stepping into this world unprepared. You are stepping into this world equipped .”

The ceremony’s student speaker was Y Hong Nhu Nguyen, who graduated with a master’s degree in communications. Nguyen shared the analogy of life as a train ride, full of unknowns and unexpected stops. She shared stories of her own unforeseen stops at GVSU, like finding her community through her job at the GVSU Speech Lab, or meeting her partner in a Japanese class. 

“And now, here we are, arriving at this stop of the train: graduation,” Nguyen said. “I don’t see it as the last stop, but as a beautiful transfer point. Because after today, we’re all about to buy new tickets for our next journey. We might not fully know what it looks like yet, but GVSU taught us that the ride will be worth it.”

MORE: Read about some graduates and their paths as Lakers.

Following a performance of the song “Golden” by GVSU a capella group, Euphoria, the ceremony’s guest speaker, John Keating, ‘79, shared a story from his time as a GVSU student when a simple invitation and act of kindness from a fellow student changed the trajectory of his life.

“I had just found the chance to work at the student-run radio station. It had taken all my mustered-up courage to walk in and ask to be involved,” he recalled. “An upperclassman, the general manager of the station, asked simply, ‘What are you doing?’

‘Nothing,’ I said. 

"He said, ‘C’mon, let’s go’.”

The conversation with that general manager marked the start of his involvement in Grand Valley’s student-run radio station, as well as a decades-long career in broadcasting for teams like the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings. 

“And I’ve carried that with me in the 100 years since I was at Grand Valley, because it was a gesture of kindness.”

Following Keating’s remarks, Mantella and Jennifer Drake, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, led the conferring of degrees. Graduates then moved their tassels and were dismissed as members of the Fall Class of 2025.

Graduates and their supporters have the opportunity to purchase Commencement mementos as well as DVDs of the ceremony.