My reaction to the 2026 Commencement as a graduating student
Over 5,000 students gathered in the football field this past Sunday for one of the most important days of our lives. Over 5,000 students listened to a CEO make subjective arguments that all just so happened to benefit his company. To him spend 15 minutes trying to convince us to use his product and 5 talking about our graduation. To him imply that all of our lived experiences searching for jobs this past year must have just been a statistical anomaly, since "demand for software engineers and radiologists continues to grow." We all listened to this, to him saying objectively false things for personal gain, and over 5,000 students applauded. If I remember right, we applauded louder and longer than for any of the other speakers.
Because if you want any chance at that juicy 6 figure salary, you gotta put your head down. Why teach us to think critically and then train us to not?
The message of the other speakers wasn't that great either, in my opinion. They talked about changing the world, but never in what way to change it. There are enough CMU students who would be happy to change the world for the worse if it meant they were the ones at the helm, and none of these speakers said anything against that ideology. Hell, it's probably a small part of how they got up there. In my opinion, the student speakers at both the main and SCS commencements were the best ones.
I left that commencement feeling more ashamed for being a part of this school than I have been since I decided to come here. And then I pushed that thought down and went to go take pictures with my friends and family. That's so CMU.