Words of wisdom, a special message highlight ceremony for graduating students

A record 1,415 students received degrees from Rutgers Business School-New Brunswick – the majority of them in finance – during the 2026 convocation at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

The ceremony opened with an stirring rendition of the National Anthem by Noara Chowdhury, a graduating student who studied Business Analytics and Information Technology, and included wisdom from commencement speaker, Milwood Hobbs Jr., a managing director at Oaktree Capital Management and a Class of 1994 graduate of the undergraduate accounting program.

The ceremony also included a 15-second video message for Hunter Donofrio, who stood on the podium ready to accept his degree in finance, when his twin sister’s image appeared on the jumbotron to congratulate him from the Middle East where she was deployed by the U.S. Army three months ago.

Donofrio stared at the screen and then blew a kiss to his sister’s image. “She got me,” he said afterward, still surprised. “It was awesome.”

Inside Jersey Mike’s it seemed like there wasn’t an empty seat left in bleachers packed with families and friends of the graduates. In fact, the graduating students assembled in the stadium didn’t reflect the entire class. The Class of 2026 actually numbered closer to 1,650 – the largest in Rutgers Business School’s history, according to school officials. It took near 100 minutes for all of the students – from the six different academic areas – to proceed across the podium to receive their degrees.

In his commencement speech, Hobbs, whose career includes years in leveraged finance at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, urged the graduating students to “be their worst critic and their biggest fan.”

“Success is self-defined,” he said, “and success is self-regulated."

He encouraged the graduates to write down goals right now that they believed would define their success and he advocated that they be open to unexpected pivots and experiences.

“While you may characterize different experiences as failures, they aren’t wrong. They’re different.”

He told them that the majority of his “rewarding” career on Wall Street was a result of a “monumental pivot.”

He advised the students to network, to collect mentors and share their gifts. “Success is not just how far you go,” he told them. “But how many you bring along the way.”

As they sat in their black caps and gowns, assembled in hundreds of folding chairs, the students heard similar encouragement from Rutgers Business School Dean Lei Lei and Francine Conway, the Rutgers University-New Brunswick chancellor.

Conway advised them to take the time to “ask one more question,” especially if they believe they are reading a room correctly or understand a situation. “The moments we feel most certain about are the ones we understand least,” she said.

As daunting as the real world might seem, in the moments before the convocation began, many spoke only about their excitement – at having completed their college education and at the prospect of going into the world world.

“I feel like I’ve gained so much experience, I can’t wait to implement my skills,” said Siyu Pang, an international student from China who plans to begin full-work and pursue a master’s degree.

Adriona Perez, who studied Business Analytics and Information Technology, plans to go into data analytics work – one day soon. For now, she said, she plans to travel, which will start with a trip to Aruba.

“The world is so big. I’m excited for all of the opportunities and challenges and I plan to face them head on,” she said.

In her remarks, Dean Lei encouraged the students assembled before her to be life-long learners, to maintain problem-solving mindsets, to remember that their college connects them to hundreds of successful CEOs and entrepreneurs.

“Build a beautiful life that is successful and meaningful,” she said. “But remember, a salary is not a legacy, and a job title, alone, does not define impact.”

-Susan Todd