Measuring success by the spaces we create
Ballet dancer and author Misty Copeland asks grads to “widen the circle.”
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Wake Forest University students graduate with nearly 10,000 people in attendance
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Wake Forest University
Wake Forest Commencement 2026
As they cross the stage at commencement, Wake Forest graduates are celebrated for their academic achievements and personal successes. But during her May 18 speech to the Class of 2026, Misty Copeland, the first Black female principal dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, challenged grads to consider a different metric for success – the spaces they create for others.
“Sometimes we tell success stories as if people simply worked hard enough and found their way,” Copeland told a crowd of nearly 10,000 gathered on Hearn Plaza. “But the truth is, somebody created access for you. Somebody made space for you. Pro humanitate to me means using your gifts not only to advance yourself but to widen the space for others.”
Copeland told graduates that in a culture obsessed with competition, optimization and peak personal performance, “ambition without humanity can become very isolating.” She reminded the crowd that resilience and leadership do not come from a polished facade, but from the willingness to protect our core humanity, cultivate genuine relationships and embrace vulnerability.
“Becoming yourself is not a branding exercise. It is a lifelong process of paying attention…to what kind of a human being you want to be when nobody is watching. The world does not need more people performing perfection. It needs more people willing to lead truthfully.”
She closed with a charge to grads to step into the future not as isolated competitors chasing perfection, but as space-makers creating a circle of opportunity.
“The world needs more people willing to widen the circle, more people to create belonging. Your generation is capable of extraordinary things…because many of you understand that individual success means very little if entire communities are still excluded from opportunity, dignity and hope.”
Honorary degrees
During the ceremony, Professor of Dance and Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, Nina Lucas, hooded Copeland, who received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.
“When I was informed that I would be the person hooding her, I was moved to tears,” Lucas said. “I am a big fan of Misty Copeland’s accomplishments and success, but it is her quiet strength and grace that leave a lasting impression on anyone in her presence.”
Rev. Cho delivered the baccalaureate speech to students on Sunday, May 17, challenging graduates to resist cynicism, choose compassion, and “not grow weary in doing good.” He reminded students that “the world is most often changed not by those who seek attention, but by those who quietly, persistently, lovingly refuse to give up.”
President Susan R. Wente and the Rev. Eugene Cho, president and CEO of Bread for the World, were also awarded honorary degrees during the commencement ceremony on Hearn Plaza. Wente received a Doctor of Humane Letters, while Cho was awarded a Doctor of Divinity.
President Wente addresses the graduates
In a nostalgic look at Wake Forest’s alma mater, “Dear Old Wake Forest,” President Susan R. Wente described how the lines take on new meaning in those four years from new student convocation to commencement. The words, she said, describe the community each student builds at Wake Forest and how it nurtures them.
“The most enduring part of your time at Wake Forest will not be this beautiful campus, or your classes, or even the traditions you have cherished,” Wente said. “The most enduring part will be the relationships you have formed here. The friendships, the mentors, the people who have challenged and supported you most. These connections become foundational for the rest of your life.…So take care of these relationships. Strengthen them and continue to grow them.”
Watch the full graduation ceremony for the class of 2026.
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