Babson Commencement 2026 Celebrates Courage, Curiosity, and Community
On a radiant spring Saturday beneath broad, blue skies, the Babson College community gathered to celebrate the graduating Class of 2026 in ceremonies that honored resilience, reinvention, and the determination to keep moving forward no matter the obstacles ahead.
Thousands of family members, friends, faculty, and mentors cheered as 700 undergraduate and 450 graduate students crossed the Commencement stage, marking the culmination of years defined by growth, challenge, and accomplishment.
Throughout both ceremonies, one message echoed repeatedly across the Wellesley campus: Graduation is not the summit. It is the beginning of a lifelong climb.
“You have arrived,” Babson Provost and Executive Vice President Ariel Armony told graduates early in both ceremonies. “Because progress is not about arriving at a final place. It is about becoming the kind of person who can keep climbing, keep learning, keep creating—no matter how high you go.”
Armony encouraged graduates not to define success by a final destination but by their willingness to continue evolving. “When you reach your next summit—and you will—look up,” he said. “And smile. Because the sky will still be far away. And that will mean there is still more to do.”
“When the path disappears, as it sometimes will, remember: Do something good, love someone fully, hope for something just ahead. You may still get lost from time to time. But you will never lose your way.”
President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD
Babson President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA’92, PhD, meanwhile, acknowledged the uncertainty that graduates inevitably will encounter beyond campus.
“The trail disappears. The terrain looks unfamiliar,” he said. “Even knowing what matters, there will be moments when life feels heavy. Moments of confusion. Moments when purpose feels distant.”
Rather than offering lofty philosophies, Spinelli urged graduates to remain anchored to what he called their “true north”: values, purpose, and relationships.
“And when the path disappears, as it sometimes will, remember: Do something good, love someone fully, hope for something just ahead,” he said. “You may still get lost from time to time. But you will never lose your way.”
Values, Vision, and Responsibility
C. Dean Metropoulos ’67, MBA ’68, H’26, founder of Metropoulos & Co., provided the undergraduate keynote address, blending entrepreneurial ambition with deeply personal reflections on family, curiosity, and fulfillment.
Introduced as a visionary business leader whose firm has led more than 80 acquisitions, Metropoulos praised Babson’s continued growth and global stature.
“At a time where universities around the world are struggling, Babson has continued to rise and is reaching new horizons,” he said. “Clearly, you had the vision to select this very fine school and the determination and discipline to graduate and be here today.”
Metropoulos reflected on his upbringing after immigrating with his family from Greece to Massachusetts, crediting his parents with instilling both discipline and compassion. “They provided us a very positive framework in our home, with values, respect, and love,” he said.
He encouraged graduates to remain intellectually curious and open to changing course when necessary. Recounting how he left a job with Xerox early in his career after realizing it was not the right fit, Metropoulos said growth often requires reassessment.
“I think it’s important early on to make some adjustments—not impulsively, but reflectively—to our career paths and what’s going to really drive our energy,” he said.
Metropoulos also pointed to two defining forces shaping the future: protecting the environment and artificial intelligence. “The environment is deteriorating rapidly,” he warned, lamenting the destruction of oceans and forests worldwide.
And while calling AI “the greatest tool known to man,” he cautioned graduates to consider its ethical implications. “The challenge,” he said, “is where does it go?”
His stories reinforced the broader message of his speech: Entrepreneurial leadership should be rooted not only in achievement, but in curiosity, perspective, and service to others.
“There’s billions of young people around the world who don’t even have the hope to be in a room like this,” he said. “We should do whatever little we can to help along their journey.”
‘Think in Centuries’
The graduate keynote address from Adriana Cisneros H’26, CEO and third-generation leader of the global enterprise Cisneros, asked graduates to take a longer view of success, leadership, and impact.
She encouraged students to reject the modern obsession with immediacy and the common advice to “live each day like it’s your last.”
“My advice? Forget that,” Cisneros said. “Instead … live each day like you’ll make it to 100.”
Cisneros, who said Babson made a deep impression on her father, Babson alumnus Gustavo Cisneros ’68, blended humor, family history, and strategic thinking into a sweeping meditation on legacy.
Detailing a childhood fascination with outer space and how it led to a recent investment in next-generation space technology, Cisneros underscored the importance of being ready when opportunity arrives.
“It took 21 years for my love of space to pay off,” she said. “You never know when or how a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will arise. The key is to be ready when it does.”
She also reflected emotionally on Venezuela and the idea of home, her voice halting with tears as she urged graduates to invest their talents toward building the future they hope to see.
“Each of us has our own Venezuela,” she said. “Some place, or some group of people, that feels like home. Pour your time, your effort, your creativity into them.”
Both Cisneros and Metropoulos received Honorary Doctor of Entrepreneurial Leadership degrees, as did Cyril Camus ’91, H’26, P’26. Camus, a global entrepreneur who has led Camus Cognac since 2003, is also a Babson governance member. His son, Marc Camus ’26, graduated Saturday with the undergraduate Class of 2026.
Celebrating Resilience and Reinvention
The emotional heart of the undergraduate ceremony came from student speaker Jake Thibeault ’26, who was paralyzed by a hockey game accident shortly before he began taking classes at Babson.
“Go live life defining adversity,” Thibeault said. “Go live life with great energy, go live life as a leader, and the only disability is a negative mindset.”
Graduate student speaker Christelle Brandt MBA’26, whose academic career focused on food science, innovation, and entrepreneurship, detailed the transformation that occurs when people embrace discomfort, uncertainty, and action.
“We came to Babson with plans,” she joked. “Most of those plans did not survive the first semester.”
But that, she argued, was exactly the point.
Referencing Roger Babson’s enduring belief that business should serve humanity, Brandt described how Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® evolved from classroom philosophy into lived experience through late nights, failed pitches, difficult conversations, and collaboration across cultures.
“We often felt uncomfortable during our time here,” she said. “But we also learned that being uncomfortable is what makes us try new things and build something different.”
Stop waiting for perfect conditions, Brandt said, and instead move boldly toward meaningful work and purposeful leadership.
“The world has enough people who are waiting… We are not those people,” Brandt said. “So let us be intentional. Let us be kind. Let’s just do. And most importantly, let us be the kind of leaders who make someone else’s future more possible.”
Photos by Nic Czarnecki/Babson College
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