New Jersey City University honored more than 1,500 graduates at a commencement ceremony Wednesday amid the university’s pursuit of a merger with Kean University.
The 8 a.m. ceremony at the Prudential Center was held 13 days after the presidents of New Jersey City University and Kean University signed a letter of intent to merge the two public universities.
Under the tentative deal, which could take up to two years to finalize, New Jersey City University would be renamed Kean Jersey City while Kean University’s name would remain unchanged.
Several speakers on Wednesday touted the nearly century-old higher education institution’s role in serving first-generation, adult and historically underserved students, without mentioning the discussions with Kean.
New Jersey City University’s interim president, Andrés Acebo, gave as examples “the single mom balancing textbooks with bedtime stories, the quiet resolve of veterans rewriting their future, and the tenacity — yes, the tenacity — of the immigrant who learned a new language while refusing to lose their voice.”
A total of 1,544 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees were awarded, officials said.
Wednesday’s ceremony opened with graduates from the university’s musical theater workshop singing the National Anthem.
Next, members of the entire group were heard on a video singing “Imagine,” a 1971 song by John Lennon that hypothesizes about a world without borders and other limitations, dubbed over a montage of photos showing campus life.
“NJCU is unlike any other institution, because its students are unlike any other. We are dreamers, we are doers, caretakers and trailblazers,” said Samantha Jaipersaud, a student who spoke on behalf of the Class of 2025.
“As a South Asian woman, I felt the power of representation, the importance of voice, and the strength of finding your place in a community that embraces difference as a source of unity,” Jaipersaud said.
The proposed merger with Kean is designed to enable the Jersey City school, which has grappled with financial problems, to continue operating.
New Jersey City University was assigned a monitor by the state in 2023 and directed to identify a potential university partner. School officials explored a possible merger with Montclair State University before announcing plans in March to proceed with Kean.
Moody’s, one of the nation’s “big three” credit agencies, cited the proposed merger and other factors in upgrading New Jersey City University’s financial outlook from “stable” to “positive” last week.
Under the tentative agreement, Kean would assume New Jersey City University’s assets and liabilities, appoint a chancellor to lead Kean Jersey City and have executive oversight of the campus.
Kean University held its commencement May 18, also at the Prudential Center, with Olympic gold medal gymnast Laurie Hernandez speaking at the ceremony.
New Jersey City University’s commencement speaker was Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, formerly a U.S. ambassador to Spain and Andorra and chief of Staff to then-First Lady Jill Biden.
“Like many of you, I am an immigrant. I was born in the Dominican Republic,” Pantaleón said to applause.
Pantaleón recounted her journey from growing up in the Bronx, to law school, to working on Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign — a role that led to a career in diplomacy when Clinton was named U.S. secretary of state the following year.
Pantaleón encouraged graduates to “stay engaged” in the world, perhaps by pursuing careers in international affairs as she did.
“Given your diverse experiences and your identities and your immigrant stories, you are uniquely situated to form America’s role in the world, and by extension, make the world a better, a more peaceful, place,” Pantaleón said.
Pantaleón and George Helmy, who served as a U.S. senator for four months last year and previously was Gov. Phil Murphy’s chief of staff, received honorary degrees Wednesday.
Acebo, in his remarks, said that the ambitions of the graduates should not lie in “the future,” but in the present.
“We’re living in a world, bruised and brittle. Our democracy is fraying. Compassion is far too often dismissed. Truth is auctioned, history distorted. The air is thick with rage and yet you’ll have to confront and ever-stubborn refrain that tells you to wait your turn,” Acebo said.
“This is your turn. Not someday, but right now,” Acebo said.
Stories by Rob Jennings
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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.