Long before attending the University of California, Berkeley, James McCloy worked alongside his parents—his mother as a janitor and his father as a landscaper. As a first-generation transfer student, McCloy reflected on his journey during the university’s Winter Commencement ceremony held at Haas Pavilion on December 20, 2025. Representing more than 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students as the student speaker for the Class of 2025, he stated, “I am here because my parents pushed a dream they themselves were not offered.”
Nearly 5,000 guests attended the event to celebrate as graduates’ names were called. Many paused to take photos or wave to the crowd.
Drawing inspiration from the Civil Rights Movement, McCloy encouraged his fellow graduates to become “zealous advocates for justice.” He reminded them that they are not only inheritors of history but also its authors. “What will we write?” he asked. “A chapter of comfort or of courage? A chapter of complicit silence or of impassioned solidarity? A chapter of unjust inculpability or of genuine accountability? A chapter that explains the world as it was — or that transforms it into what it must be?”
During the ceremony, Chancellor Rich Lyons presented the Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award to San Ling, who earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Berkeley in 1990. The award recognizes alumni with distinguished service records abroad and includes a $35,000 cash prize. Ling joined Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore in 2005 as founding head of mathematical sciences and has contributed significantly to NTU’s academic programs and international standing.
Ling recounted an experience from his time at Berkeley when his dissertation advisor Ken Ribet took a sabbatical in Paris just as Ling was about to begin research. Ling asked if he could join him: “That unplanned semester in Paris turned out to be such an eye-opener, one that eventually led to decades of close relationships with French colleagues and institutions both at the personal and institutional level,” said Ling.
Aravind Srinivas delivered the keynote address. Srinivas earned his Ph.D. in computer science from Berkeley in 2021 and is now co-founder and CEO of Perplexity AI—a company developing an answer engine combining real-time web search with artificial intelligence for direct responses to user questions. Addressing graduates, Srinivas emphasized curiosity: “Your ability to have the best questions will be the single most defining skill of your life,” he said. “The people who lead, who change, who make a difference in the world? They have one thing in common… They’re relentlessly curious and ask questions about everything.”
Chancellor Lyons also spoke about empathy walls—a concept he learned while studying sociology at Berkeley—and urged graduates to break down barriers between people with different beliefs or backgrounds. He remarked: “While we may be in the midst of a tumultuous and challenging era, the behavioral and social sciences teach us that unsettled times have the potential to facilitate learning, growth, and transformation, both personally and societally,” said Lyons. “While these times may be perilous, so too are they times of creative ferment and possibility, making it a prime time for you, our newest alumni.”
Graduates shared their thoughts on what makes UC Berkeley stand out among public universities globally—citing opportunities for collaboration across disciplines as well as resilience shaped by past experiences.
