Chancellor Robert Jones was the 2025 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Commencement speaker. The following is a transcript of his speech that was delivered at the universitywide ceremony on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
Once again, good morning and congratulations to all of our new graduates.
Our universitywide Commencement is truly the highlight of both the academic year at Illinois and of my own as chancellor. There is nothing in the world like getting to walk up on this stage to look out on a virtual sea of blue and orange.
You’ll notice we don’t call it “graduation.” We call it Commencement because this is the beginning of the next chapter in your own personal stories.
And as some of you may know, today is also my Illinois Commencement.
Shortly, I will also be saying goodbye to this great university and starting a new and very unexpected phase in my own career. And as many of you will find as you move forward, it is an opportunity that only came to me through the experiences and the continuing education I have received in my time at Illinois. So, in a lot of ways, this year we’re graduating together.
And to those family members in the audience who have a graduate down here who might have taken a semester or two longer to reach this point than you’d hoped … keep this in mind. It took me almost NINE years to get here.
So, they’re all going to be just fine!
Now, to all of you in this 154th graduating class — to the future leaders here in this nation and around the world — congratulations!
You’ve completed some of the most difficult courses and have been challenged by some of the finest minds in the world.
You are about to be awarded a degree from one of the top universities on this planet.
You are Illinois graduates.
And today, you are following in the footsteps of legends and giants who we take pride in claiming as our alums.
I’m talking about people like Nick Holonyak Junior, who invented the first visible LED.
Or Nobel Prize-winner Rosalyn Yallow, who developed a medical diagnostic technique that has revolutionized everything from the treatment of diabetes to safeguarding our blood supply.
Or the creators of everything from the internet browser to Tesla to YouTube to PayPal.
All of them have been where you are today.
But none of them were legends and giants on the day they put on their caps and gowns.
This place gave them a foundation for success. It raised the trajectory of the possibilities that were ahead of them. And it led them to achievements that I suspect, if they were being honest, none would have ever predicted.
Most certainly this university played a very important role in their lives.
Just as it has mine. Just as it has yours.
But it is critically important to recognize that the journey to joining the Illinois family — for all of us — came about through opportunities that were offered to us along the way.
None of us got here alone.
Nick Holonyak’s parents were willing to do nearly anything it took to prevent him from following his father’s path to a life working underground in the coal mines of Southern Illinois.
Rosalyn Yallow, despite distinguishing herself in math and science as a college student, found that admission to graduate study in physics for a woman wouldn’t even be considered by most universities in the county. She was working as a stenographer when Illinois offered her a place here.
I’m standing on this stage with the singular privilege of serving as the chancellor of one of the most important universities on the planet. I was born and raised in Dawson, Georgia. That is geographically, about 800 miles from where I’m standing. But it is, philosophically, a universe away from where most anyone would have ever expected to find a child of sharecroppers growing up in the Jim Crow South. But my parents truly and fervently believed in the power of education to provide their children better and safer lives than their own. School was our priority — even during the busy harvest seasons when those hours were sorely missed in the fields. And early in high school, I had a teacher who started referring to me as “professor” and who made it clear to me, and my parents agreed, that I would be going to college. And that opportunity is ultimately what opened doors that led me here to Illinois. And like many of you here today, I was also the first in my family to go to college and first to graduate.
Since I know firsthand just how demanding that experience can be, I would like to take a moment to recognize the students who are celebrating that achievement. Any first-generation students here today, please stand as you are able so we can congratulate you.
I take enormous pride in my accomplishments — whether as a scientist, an administrator or as a parent. But I take equal pride in acknowledging and celebrating those along the way who gave me a chance when they didn’t have to or who held out a hand when I needed it.
I know there are those who believe that providing an opportunity to one person can only come at a cost of taking it away from another. I believe that this concept of a zero sum game mindset is an insidious and destructive fallacy, and it is absolutely antithetical to the values of this university from which you graduate today.
All of us got here to Illinois only because we had people in our lives who cared enough about us to want to invest their time, their effort and their spirit in our future. We should be proud to have such people in our lives. We owe it to them to talk about those opportunities they presented for us. And I firmly believe the best way we can ever repay them is by following the example they set for us.
We know our classrooms, laboratories and studios have provided you with the academic knowledge and skills you will need in your careers. But I also hope, in your time here we have demonstrated the transformational power for good when you are part of a community that truly comes together for one another.
I realize, on that last point, I am actually speaking to a very large blue and orange choir. I have seen so many of you sitting on this field today exhibiting the Illinois hallmarks of selflessness and generosity of character during the most difficult days in our history.
I know everyone is tired of talking about COVID-19, including me.
But it would be an inexcusable disservice to these graduates if we failed to acknowledge their role in what will be viewed as a defining period in this university’s long and illustrious history.
This class will be among those at Illinois who will forever share a common bond.
You navigated the most serious global health crisis in living memory. While some of you may have started that journey while you were still finishing high school or your undergraduate program elsewhere, you joined this university when we were all still uncertain about our futures.
You took COVID-19 tests.
You showed your Illinois app to everyone on campus at some point.
And a lot of you here have doubtlessly come to hold a very strong opinion on the timeless question of “Straw or funnel?”
It is easier to laugh now. But the passage of time shouldn’t diminish the magnitude of the challenges you all faced together.
I know it wasn’t easy. But you have gotten here. And you all helped us to be a community who demonstrated to the world that, when it matters the most, whether you’re six feet apart or separated by an ocean, you are never alone.
To those of you in the stands watching your child or family member or friend graduate today, I just want you to know what a debt of gratitude this university owes them.
They were heroic.
These students — at every level of study and in every program — did everything we asked of them to be able to come back together. They made the very hard choices over and over again to do whatever was required to take care of one another and to protect this entire community.
These Illinois graduates refused to be defined by the pandemic.
Instead, they defined and distinguished their university through their selfless actions and decisions when the stakes really were a matter of life and death.
I ask that you all continue to demonstrate that same strength of character and try to foster that sense of community in the years to come. Even when — ESPECIALLY WHEN — the stakes are far more mundane.
Like many of our graduates, you will regularly find yourself as the person in the room who comes up with the best idea, the most innovative solution or the right answer to the question at hand. But it is how you choose to use that knowledge that will make all the difference.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t be ambitious or focused or driven. You should set the highest expectations for yourself and for those around you. And you should rightfully take pride in all of your achievements, milestones and accomplishments in the years to come.
But in my experience, a single act of kindness — even if unexpected or unearned by its recipient — leads to far more significant leaps forward in careers and lives than a dozen times of reminding people you were right.
A lot of people mistakenly call that “being humble.”
I believe it is honestly just “being human.”
And I don’t think there can be anything on this planet more sincere, more powerful and more awe-inspiring.
That is how the true impact of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has always been measured since 1867.
Regardless of the discovery or the invention, our Illinois alumni are most impressive NOT when they know the right answer, but when they choose to do the RIGHT thing — even in the most difficult of circumstances.
Now it is your turn to go change the world for the better.
To those of you in the stands, I want to be clear. When I’m talking to these new graduates about changing the world, that isn’t just “graduation ceremony speak” or a throwaway line.
I know they are already changing lives.
Because this class and those that have come before them have changed my own in some of the most surprising, most profound and truly amazing ways in these past nine years.
I am truly grateful to each and every one of you on this field for the opportunity to have been part of your Illinois journey.
I know saying goodbye to this university will be as emotional for me as it will be for you.
Getting to share this glorious moment on this wonderful day with all of you is a very, very special gift.
It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I want to make sure I remember every detail.
So, before I conclude. I would like to make one final request to all of you on the field.
There is one question that I have received countless times when walking on the Quad or around campus.
It is one that always, always made me smile.
And now it is my turn.
To the Class of 2025 of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, “Can I get a selfie with you?”
I’m sorry, I’m not sure I heard that clearly. I just want to be sure it’s OK …
“Can I get a selfie with the most impressive graduating class on the planet this year?”
It’s perfect! I’ll share it with you on my Instagram account.
So. With that, I think there is really just one thing left to say!
“I-L-L”
[On the trail of “I-N-I”]
Congratulations to you all! We cannot wait to see what you do next!
