On Friday, May 15, 2026, Simmons University celebrated the 121st Commencement Ceremonies at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway. During two ceremonies, Simmons awarded over 500 baccalaureate degrees and nearly 1,200 graduate degrees to the Class of 2026.
In their graduation robes, Simmons graduates processed into the venue with smiles and energetic waves. Decorated mortar boards displayed spring flowers, flags, glitter, and colorful handprints. Supervising the assembled students was Professor of Communications Bob White, in ceremonial red and swaying to the music. The graduates were followed by Simmons faculty in robes of red, black, blue, gray, and maroon, including President Lynn Perry Wooten, the deans of the six schools, and Commencement speakers.
Regina Pisa, Chair of the Simmons University Board of Trustees, welcomed graduates, faculty, family, and friends, offering praise to the assembled graduates. “Today’s Commencement celebrates both tradition and transformation. The caps, gowns, and hoods we wear date back to the Middle Ages,” she said. “As we honor these traditions, we also celebrate the unique journey of each graduate — with pride in the past and excitement for what lies ahead.”
Pisa introduced the 9th Simmons University President, Lynn Wooten, who addressed the excited crowd. “Simmons was founded on the belief that education could advance social and economic equity. For over 125 years, this institution has created space for students to learn, grow, and thrive. Each of you plays a role in carrying this special legacy forward.”
Today’s graduates further their careers, as Wooten said, “at a moment when the world needs exactly that kind of thoughtful leadership … At Simmons, you learned not simply to accept the world as it is, but to imagine what it could become — and to have the confidence to shape what you imagine. You have learned to ask difficult questions, you have learned to challenge assumptions, you have learned to use your knowledge to create a meaningful change in our communities and professions. That is the power of a Simmons education.”
Driscoll Encouraged Graduates to Perform Public Service
Wooten introduced the first Commencement speaker, Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, who greeted all assembled. "I am deeply grateful to receive an honorary degree from Simmons University — an institution that has long stood for opportunity, leadership, service, and the empowerment of generations of women and changemakers,” Driscoll began.
She congratulated the graduating class on their achievements, while addressing the challenges and uncertainty ahead. Driscoll also advised graduates to consider a role in public service — from working in city hall to volunteering locally or advocating for your neighbors. “This Commonwealth leads because we believe deeply in the power of education, research, creativity, and civic engagement. It’s why people from around the world come here to learn, to innovate, and to build futures. And now you are part of that story.” In today’s graduating class, Driscoll sees, “a generation that is far more prepared to lead than it often gets credit for … And know this: the Commonwealth, your state, is cheering you on, every step of the way.”
Professor of Practice and Master of Social Work Program Director Gary Bailey delivered a poetic Invocation, giving thanks and prayers. “It is not what we think, but why we think it, that matters,” said Bailey. “Our ‘why’ is our compass. It guides us when the path disappears, when certainty fades, when the world asks more questions than it answers. We know that life is not lived in the safety of routine … And if this journey has taught us anything, it is this: stumbling is not failure; it is formation.”
Drawing from the words of Martin Luther King Jr., Bailey said: “We remember the audacious faith in the future of humankind — a faith we borrow today not because the world has become simpler, but because it has not. In a time that tempts us toward despair, toward isolation, toward a dangerous belief that we rise or fall alone, we stand in a deeper truth: that we belong to one another.”
Stepping into the Unknown with Purpose
Vice President of Student Engagement and Dean of Students Rae-Anne Butera introduced the Class of 2026 graduate student speaker, Rachel “Rae” Ilyce Otero ’26MS, candidate for the Master of Science in Library and Information Science. Otero shared the “early-life crisis” she experienced after completing her undergraduate degree and not knowing what to do next. After quitting her plan to teach middle school English, Otero pivoted to library and information science and found where she was meant to be.
At Simmons, Otero found unexpected joys, including “a diverse set of brilliant professors in my field, who genuinely care about the success of their students,” and “a community with such creative-minded people, who will be there for me, even after this big moment.” She reassured the assembled graduates, “There is always time to grow, to learn, to dream, to quit, to fail, and to start over, and to want more joy for yourself and the world around you. And, if you find yourself asking: What will I do next? Know that you are ready, and the world is waiting.”
Butera introduced undergraduate student speaker Daniella Oyindamola Adeshina ’26, a candidate for the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with minors in Data Science and Analytics and Business.
Adeshina encouraged her peers to reflect on who they were when they began their studies at Simmons. “There were moments when things felt uncertain. Moments when the pressure felt quiet, but heavy. But we still showed up. We smiled. We said we were fine. Because strength does not always look loud. Sometimes strength looks like staying. Sometimes strength looks like trying again.” As graduates “step back into the unknown,” Adeshina urged them to do so with gratitude and faith, and to remember that “even in uncertainty, there is purpose.”
Maguire Urged Presence And Embracing Possibility
President Wooten and Vice Provost Leanne Doherty awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, whom President Wooten praised as “a steadfast champion of economic development, affordable housing, public education, and the vitality of communities across the state.”
Wooten and Doherty awarded the honorary Doctor of Arts degree to Simmons alumnus and former professor and associate director of the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, Gregory Maguire ’78MA. President Wooten introduced Maguire, the internationally acclaimed author of novels for adults and children, including Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), which inspired the Broadway musical and major motion picture adaptations.
Recalling his own Commencement 48 years ago, when he received his Master of Arts degree in children’s literature from the newly-opened Center for the Study of Children’s Literature from then-Simmons College, Maguire said: “I couldn’t guess much about my future life in 1978 … I couldn’t see that my career as a writer would flounder for about 17 years before my first adult novel, Wicked, would show up and change the shape of my career … Not to be able to anticipate the good as well as the fatal is what gives life savor and the thrill of possibility. Without that latter possibility, it is very hard to take a single step.”
Maguire urged graduates to “Cherish openly whom you love ... Doing it openly helps you be brave, and it helps them keep on being brave.” And to “Remember about the movement of time, and that you are HERE YET in every moment. This very moment, however imponderable my remarks might be, is what you have right now. Be here.”
Collective Achievements
During the afternoon ceremony, Butera introduced triple Shark and Doctorate of Social Work candidate Angelica Barron Maulucci ’17, ’18MSW, ’26DSW as a “proud social worker” who has “continuously found ways to connect with and uplift those around her” and integrates social justice into her community work.
Maulucci’s remarks reminded graduates of their interconnected selves. “This is history arriving … today, I do not just see accomplishment. I see devotion. I see a celebration — for our ancestors, for our younger selves, for those in this room, and those in our hearts … And this is what Simmons has taught me: that we do not become alone.”
Maulucci left attendees with a meditation on love: “May we live as the love that brought us here today, and carry it forward into the future waiting for us.”
Estreet Emphasized Leading from Where You Stand
Wooten and Doherty conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Dr. Anthony Estreet, Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). Addressing Estreet, Wooten said: “Your career reflects a deep commitment to advancing ethical practices, to strengthening the social work profession, to advocating for vulnerable and underserved populations.”
Estreet’s principal message was “lead from where you stand.” In his words, “We are living through a complicated moment in this country … where expertise alone is not enough. This world does not simply need more educated people, it needs more courageous people.”
Simmons graduates have given Estreet a sense of hope. As he expressed: “Moments like this today have always produced leaders willing to push humanity forward. Within this graduating class, there are people willing to organize instead of isolate; people willing to build community instead of division; people willing to choose courage over cynicism, and that is why your leadership matters right now.”
In closing, Estreet emphasized that true leadership cannot be reduced to titles and credentials. “Leadership is how you show up, how you treat people, how you carry responsibility,” he said.
President Wooten concluded the event by reiterating congratulations to the graduates and inviting them to take photographs on campus.
