Worcester State University held its graduate school commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 14, awarding 361 advanced degrees to students in education, nursing, speech-language pathology, biotechnology, and other fields.
Cheered on by hundreds of family members, friends, faculty, and staff, the graduating students entered the campus Wellness Center accompanied by bagpipes. Some graduates wore medallions recognizing the highest academic achievement in each degree program, while others wore blue cords indicating they’d completed their graduate degrees entirely online.
In opening remarks, Worcester State President Barry Maloney pointed to the many paths Worcester State graduate students took on their journey to earning a degree—recognizing that for some, that meant balancing coursework with careers, families, and other responsibilities.
“Many of you arrived after workdays, after putting children to bed, after long commutes, after years of professional responsibility,” he said. “You arrived carrying a great deal of life with you. Others have arrived straight from undergraduate work, making a conscious commitment to further your education as soon as possible—a decision that carries its own weight. Whichever the case, you chose to learn more, to grow more, and to push yourselves further. That dedication deserves recognition.”
Maloney encouraged graduates to carry forward the resilience and perspective they developed during their time at Worcester State.
“You have grown here, even in seasons of scarcity,” he said. “You have persevered when time and energy were limited. You have built knowledge, judgment, and resilience. And as you go into the world, remember this: the work you do—in classrooms, clinics, offices, and communities—is not just about what you accomplish. It is about what you make possible for others.”
Miss Tina E. Gaffney, an arts educator and graduate of Worcester State’s Master’s degree in English program, served as the student speaker. She delivered an uplifting and energetic speech, drawing inspiration from her favorite artists and stories from her childhood, before sharing three words in particular that guided her throughout her graduate journey: determination, inspiration, and dedication. “All of which, as Earth, Wind, and Fire wrote, ‘give you the strength to carry on,’” she noted.
Miss Tina E. Gaffney ’26 delivers the student address.
Beginning with determination, Gaffney shared an anecdote from her childhood about a failed attempt at making sandwiches. “When I was eight years old, I was a very proud Girl Scout, and it was finally time to earn my cooking badge,” she recalled. Her mother suggested she make tuna fish sandwiches and invited a few neighbors over to taste test them. “They picked up the sandwiches. And then they took a bite. Crunch. No one had told me to take the shells off the eggs. In that moment, I was certain my life was over,” she said.
Gaffney shared that a month later, she got a second chance to earn her cooking badge—and succeeded. “What I didn’t fully understand at eight years old—but understand now—is that determination is not about getting everything right the first time,” she said. “It’s about showing up again after things go wrong. That determination—from Girl Scouts to graduation—brought me to this stage. Right here, right now.”
Gaffney then turned to her second word: inspiration. “We hear the word inspiration all the time—but it doesn’t always look the way we expect,” she said. “Sometimes, inspiration looks like showing up when you’re exhausted, writing one more page when you feel stuck, or trying again when self-doubt creeps in.”
“We are capable of more than we sometimes allow ourselves to believe,” she continued. “So as you move forward into the next chapter of your life, give yourself permission: to dream, to try, to fail, and to rise again.”
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Finally, Gaffney spoke about the dedication she and her classmates demonstrated throughout their graduate journeys. “At some point along this journey, each of us made a decision,” she said. “We decided to be dedicated—to our work, to our goals, and to ourselves. That dedication is what brought us here today. And it is what will carry us forward.”
Gaffney closed her speech with a powerful message to her fellow graduates. “So today, as we celebrate this achievement, I want us to remember: We didn’t get here by accident,” she said. We got here through determination, through inspiration, and through dedication. And because of that—we did it, Class of 2026. And more importantly—we are ready for what comes next.”
Dr. Lisa Colombo, chair of the Worcester State Board of Trustees, also congratulated students and spoke to the role the board plays on behalf of the university.
“As Trustees, our role is to support Worcester State’s mission and to partner with the university’s leadership in creating opportunities for student success. At the center of that mission is you,” said Colombo. “We care deeply about ensuring that every student is equipped with the knowledge, confidence, and experiences needed to thrive professionally, personally, and as engaged members of their communities.