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President Bloomberg addressed the graduating fall Class of 2024 on December 14, 2024, in the Wolstein Center. Her remarks appear below as prepared.

Good afternoon! To our graduates, congratulations! You’ve done it!! Today, you join a prestigious and very small percentage of the adult population in the world who have ever had the opportunity to receive a college education — less than 7% globally. If you are receiving a postgraduate degree today, you are among an even smaller group. 

By earning this prestige, this doesn’t make you any more important or more special than anyone else.  This does, however, give you greater opportunity.  You are on the path to building your future!

To the family members and friends joining us for this momentous occasion, welcome. I’m so glad to be with you as we celebrate the Class of 2024.

Graduates, I imagine these are the people who lifted you up when you were down, who urged you onward, picked the kids up from child care, read the first drafts of term papers, perhaps paid a few bills and offered support in countless other ways. 

Graduates, now would be a good time to stand up and show your gratitude by giving your people here today a hearty round of applause as well.

And I want to recognize my colleagues here in the front rows and here on the stage with me.  Graduates, we sit before you and among you as a symbol of respect and honor.  In so many ways, we are all teachers and all learners. 

As faculty and staff, we learn from students every day — and it is only together that we make a university — this place of higher learning, research, creative activity and exploration. 

Speaking for myself, I try to spend at least some part of everyday walking through campus and strolling the inner-link and I love stopping and talking with students about what is on their minds.  Some of you may have also been part of the monthly lunches I have with students.  Also a terrific learning experience for me—and a really great reminder of how all of us together build a learning organization; how together we create the idea of university.

Graduates, today is your day, and I speak on behalf of our entire faculty and staff community when I say we are truly honored to commemorate this day with you.

In a moment I will ask you to join me in thanking these folks as well, but hang tight for a minute. 

Will our faculty members please rise? And staff members, I would ask that you rise as well. 

Graduates, these individuals have spent countless hours teaching you, guiding you, supporting you and mentoring you, and creating spaces where all of you can feel like you belong. Please join me in giving these dedicated professionals a round of applause. 

I also want to take just a moment to ask you to join me in remembering someone who is not here.  In late August, a colleague and friend to many of us — Joshua Cramer — passed away far too young after a long battle with cancer. Josh was a two-time alum of �㽶����ֱ�� and served as our associate registrar. He had been in our registrars office for 16 years. 

For those of you wondering what a registrar is, they are the keepers of all our academic schedules and student academic records; they make sure students get the degree for which they’ve been granted. Their work is essential, especially at the time of commencement. 

In so many ways, Josh was Mr. Commencement, and he took great pride in this event.  He always wanted it to be an event that was flawless and that truly honored our graduates. 

On this Commencement day in particular, we remember Josh and so many other members of our �㽶����ֱ�� community whose legacies will not be forgotten.

As president, I have the great pleasure of meeting with many of our alumni. In addition to meeting them at campus events and around Cleveland, I also travel across the country to attend alumni gatherings and reconnect with people who love this institution. 

I always have so much fun doing this, because our alums  have such personal and inspiring stories to share. They tell me how it is they came to �㽶����ֱ��, or the special interaction they had with a faculty member that made all the difference—or that frustrated them so  much at the time but years later they realized the value of that darn class, the internship that set them up for career success, or how they met their spouse or lifelong friends while studying here.

Each story is unique, but I do also find commonalities among them. Often for these alumni, �㽶����ֱ�� was the place that helped them to thrive and grow in a way no other college or university could. Or �㽶����ֱ�� gave them the opportunity they couldn’t find anywhere else, and thanks to that chance, they were able to succeed.

Earlier this fall, we recorded some of these stories in a video we simply titled  “If not for �㽶����ֱ��.” For those of us who have dedicated our lives to higher education, it is a reminder of the power and impact of the work we so deeply believe in.

I just want to try something….if you are a �㽶����ֱ�� alum, will you please stand up?

Graduates, you are commencing into this community of alums. You are commencing at a time of hard things happening in the world and yet also unlimited opportunity for innovation; a time of growing concern about the wellbeing of people and our planet, and yet also a time of unprecedented public health and scientific breakthroughs.

As you think about your place in this grand scheme of things, I ask you to think about what your own “If not for �㽶����ֱ��” story is. NOT so much to celebrate �㽶����ֱ�� but to give yourself the space to reflect. What opportunities set you up for success? Who were the classmates whose identity or beliefs or customs challenged you to think differently about the world? Who were the professors who inspired you to think more broadly, or perhaps pursue a degree that you hadn’t yet  realized would be so perfect for you? What happened for you here that put you on a path that is right for you? What is different for you because of the time you spent at �㽶����ֱ��?

When we meet again, whenever and wherever that may be, I would love to hear your “If not for �㽶����ֱ��” story.

Until then, I offer you once again my heartiest congratulations on this, your commencement day.