Graduates, family, friends, and community members joined students, faculty, and staff on the Beloit College campus on Sunday, May 10 to celebrate the Class of 2026.
A cool breeze, birdsong, and smooth jazz from the quintet stage right drifted across the meticulously groomed campus where the stage was set for the college’s 176th Commencement.
Breathe in the moment
When the time came, President Eric Boynton welcomed the graduates and the jubilant crowd. “This achievement is not merely a milestone, but a launchpad for what comes next,” he told the graduates. “This complicated and chaotic world needs what you have gained here. We need the perspective you have developed, the values that have shaped you, and the sense of purpose you carry forward. We need your wisdom, your compassion, and your commitment as advocates and changemakers in the world.”
Standing in front of Middle College, campus’ oldest building, Boynton took a mindful pause. “Breathe in these moments and let them do their work on you,” he advised the Class of 2026. The crowd applauded each graduate as they accepted their diploma from President Boynton, all hopeful for the future.
Blue Skies for a student who exemplifies community
Over the years, there have been only a handful of times that the Blue Skies Award and the Martha Peterson Prize have gone to the same recipient. An outstanding student and community member, Gisela Uribe ’26, Round Lake Park, Illinois, excelled in her rigorous academic workload as a McNair scholar, while serving in leadership roles on campus and in the community.
“What truly sets Gisela apart is her spirit,” wrote one of her nominators. “She is someone people are naturally drawn to. When she enters a room, there is an immediate sense of warmth — she has a way of making others feel seen, supported, and welcome, without effort or pretense. Her kindness is genuine and consistent. She listens, she shows up, and she brings a sense of lightness wherever she goes.”
Gisela was an engaged and dedicated leader from the start: a member of the Student Engagement & Leadership (SEAL) programming team, student representative to the Beloit College Board of Trustees, executive board of the Girls and Women in Science/STEM, member of the Pre-Health Professionals Club at the college, tutor, orientation leader, campus ambassador, resident assistant, and an Impact Beloit Community Fellow working at the Rock County Public Health Department this past year as well as a volunteer at Health Equity Alliance of Rock County in Janesville.
As a student, she built meaningful connections with others through joy, humor, and compassion. As one of her professors noted, “Gisela is someone who truly makes Beloit a better place to be.”
Gisela, who graduates with a double major in sociology and data analytics, a minor in health and society, and with the college’s two highest student honors, will begin a doctorate program in community health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Shaped by Beloit College
Abisha Bhatta ’26, of Kathmandu, Nepal was selected by the senior class to be the student commencement speaker. She began her address with the Nepali proverb, “A tree branch laden with fruit bends low,” a reminder that growth is not only about reaching higher, but also about remaining grounded. She called on her classmates to recognize how questions, uncertainties, and ordinary experiences become the foundation of what’s next.
She remembered the late Professor Emeritus Bob Elder, noting that “education is not only found in lectures, readings, papers, and exams, but is found in the care, humor, and humanity that people bring into our lives.”
Abisha, who graduated magna cum laude with a double major in biology and quantitative economics and a minor in health & society, thanked Beloit College for being a place where journeys reveal themselves with time. “Graduation,” she concluded, “is not only a celebration of what we have done, but a recognition of who we have become.” She encouraged her classmates to value friendships, and remain grounded and humble, even as they continue to reach higher.
The human advantage: judgment, empathy, character
Credit: Kayla Wolf
Sher Omerovic ’02, introduced her former college roommate, long-time friend, and this year’s commencement speaker, Silvija Martincevic ’02, describing their unlikely and extraordinary friendship, a friendship that began in their first year at the college and remains strong to this day.
Silvija, who grew up in a small farming community in Croatia, admitted that she did not build her life by having a plan, but by having the courage to say yes to opportunities, an approach that took her to America, to Beloit College, and eventually to Silicon Valley. A successful CEO, she made clear that her career success is only a part of who she is, emphasizing her relationships with her husband, her children, and her friends.
“Keep moving, keep learning, do not give up,” said Silvija, who was known for flying across campus with purpose, determination, and just the right amount of style in the pair of Pumas her mother made for her in the shoe factory where she worked.
She acknowledged the changing world the graduates are facing, encouraging them to build a life that benefits from change, not one that resists change. “Embrace change, say yes, and welcome fear and excitement — it means you’re on the right path.”
New graduates, now alumni
The Eaton Chapel bells punctuated President Boynton’s closing message, as the band slipped into another jazz tune. Crowds abandoned their chairs to mingle in the alumni reception and to take photos at their cherished campus spaces. Beloit College’s signature blue and gold rippled on banners while graduates strode through the afternoon sunlight amid colorful bouquets and regalia, diplomas in hand.
May 10, 2026
