Crossing the Finish Line: Westcliff University Celebrates the Class of 2026

Written by: Marck Parra Date: June 30, 2026

The Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall has hosted world-class performances for decades, but on June 27, 2026, the most compelling show on its stage belonged to Westcliff University’s graduating Class of 2026. Scholars, veterans, immigrants, parents and professionals filled that hall, each one living proof that the pursuit of education, no matter how difficult the road, is always worth the walk.

What made the weekend so memorable was that the celebration started long before anyone set foot in that hall. The entire weekend was one of euphoria, opening Friday night with a waterside Grad Night celebration at Newport Dunes before culminating in a Commencement ceremony that the Class of 2026 will never forget.

No one expressed what the weekend meant better than Westcliff University President and CEO Anthony Lee, EdD, who spoke with the clarity that has come to define his leadership.

“I see future entrepreneurs, educators, engineers, healthcare professionals, attorneys, business leaders, innovators and change makers. And I see graduates representing over 100 countries, many more cultures and unique individual experiences from around the world,” Dr. Lee told the graduating class. “Your journey required courage, sacrifice and perseverance, true qualities of a Westcliff Warrior.”

The Night Before the Diplomas

The night before Commencement, Grad Night 2026 took over the stunning Newport Dunes Back Bay Room in Newport Beach, where the bay setting felt like the only fitting backdrop for a group of graduates on the eve of something big.

Guests arrived dressed for the occasion, the music was live, the dinner was served and the dance floor filled up quickly. Friendly competition broke out over musical chairs while classmates who had spent years in the same virtual breakout rooms finally got to laugh together in person. Faculty mingled with graduates, families pulled out their cameras and the warmth that only comes from a community that genuinely knows each other filled every corner of the room.

For many graduates, the night carried a significance that went beyond the celebration itself. Chinmay Gupta, who earned his MBA and was already planning toward his DBA while running his own fintech company, had never attended his own graduation before. His previous degree was conferred during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the chance to be physically present, surrounded by classmates, faculty and the community that had supported him, was one he wasn’t taking for granted.

“This is the first ceremony that I’m going to be attending about myself,” Gupta said. “Being an international student, there’s so many things that can go wrong at any given time. The support I was offered by my international student advisor has been incredible. They were there with me throughout the journey.”

If Grad Night was the exhale, Commencement morning was the moment everyone had been holding their breath for.

When Segerstrom Met the Class of 2026

Saturday morning brought the kind of anticipation that builds slowly and then arrives all at once. Families traveled from across the world to take their seats inside the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, one of Southern California’s premier cultural venues and the home of Westcliff’s Commencement for the second consecutive year.

Outside, the courtyard buzzed with conversations in dozens of languages. Graduates lined up at photo backdrops, pulling in parents, siblings and friends for pictures that will sit in frames for decades. Parents who had watched their family members navigate late nights, time zone differences and full-time jobs to earn this moment found their seats inside the hall and felt the full weight of what was about to happen.

Safarmamad Gulmamadov, a digital marketing MBA graduate, said the day carried a significance that words could barely contain.

“It’s a big honor for me to be part of this university and to graduate in one of the best states in America,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to getting better opportunities and achieving better things thanks to Westcliff.”

Inside, the stage was finally set. Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Matthew Hubbs, EdD,, opened the program as master of ceremonies. The Orange High School Marine Corps JROTC Color Guard presented the colors, vocalist Katrina Pesek performed the national anthem and the Class of 2026, representing graduates around the world, processed into a hall that was electric with anticipation.

Four Speakers, One Message: Show Up for the World

The ceremony brought together four speakers whose backgrounds could not have been more different, yet whose messages pointed unmistakably in the same direction.

Dr. Lee opened his address not with statistics or institutional milestones, but with a story the Westcliff community already knew well. Earlier this year, Lucas Taub, head coach of Westcliff’s surf team, was at a surf contest in Oceanside when he spotted a father and his 6-year-old daughter struggling in a rip current. Without hesitation, he kicked off his shoes and dove in fully clothed to bring them to safety. When asked afterward what drove him to act, his answer was as simple as it was powerful: he had one job, and that was to bring those human beings to shore. That story was a setup for something even closer to home.

Dr. Lee then turned to a Westcliff student who had been diagnosed with cancer during her time in the program and had wondered whether finishing her degree was even possible. Her husband and professors believed in her when she struggled to believe in herself, and when she later reflected on what that support had meant, she gave Dr. Lee a line he has carried ever since.

“She said, ‘For those few hours I was in class, I forgot I was sick,'” he told the crowd. “Never underestimate the impact you can have on another person’s life. You graduate into a world that will be transformed by artificial intelligence. It will change how you work, how we learn, how we create and how we solve problems. But it will never replace compassion. It will never replace courage. It will never replace integrity and it will never replace the decision to step forward when someone else needs you.”

Dr. Maria Toyoda, president and CEO of the WASC Senior College and University Commission, built her address around a single, powerful idea: that the graduates most likely to thrive are not the ones who optimized for every expected condition, but the ones who stayed curious and got stronger every time conditions changed. She called it antifragility, and she left the room with a challenge that lingered long after she stepped off the stage.

“I hope you leave with not just a sense of what you’ve accomplished, but a sense of what kind of person to keep becoming, someone who fools around productively, someone who builds capability that transfers and someone who gets stronger when the conditions change rather than shattering against them,” she said. “Tom didn’t know he was preparing for anything. And that was the whole point. Be like Tom.”

Congressman Dave Min, who received an honorary degree from Westcliff, was refreshingly candid about the economic and political moment graduates were stepping into, and equally clear about why that moment demanded their full participation. He celebrated Westcliff’s 2026 national championship-winning teams in surfing and cheer before closing with a charge that resonated through the hall.

“We are living through historically important times. Your kids, your grandkids, they’re going to look back and ask what you did today to try to step up when America was at this crossroads. What you will do in the coming years actually matters,” he told the class. “Please act with courage, take chances and lead with boldness. You can do it and we are rooting for you.”

Arabian Prince, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted entrepreneur and founding member of N.W.A., rounded out the speaker lineup with a perspective that only comes from a life spent at the intersection of music, technology and relentless innovation. He announced the Arabian Prince Commitment to Community Scholarship and left the class with a philosophy he has lived by since his days making beats in Compton while quietly building what would become a technology career.

“Being amazing isn’t a part-time job,” he told the graduates. “It’s a 24-hour-a-day lifestyle. When you commit to that level of absolute excellence, doors you didn’t know existed will open up for you. I want your passion, your work and your creative vision to be so loud that it infects every single room, every startup and every career path you touch.”

Excellence Recognized: The Class of 2026 Award Recipients

The ceremony also recognized graduates whose work and character set them apart. Ravi Teja Reddy Bandi, DBA, received the Harris-Cooper Rising Groups in STEM Scholarship. Shambhu Siwakoti, DBA, was named the recipient of the Dr. David C. McKinney Transformational Impact Award. Rasel Mahmud Jewel, DBA, received the Dr. John Lee Legacy of Leadership Award. Vivek Sanjay Shelkel, DBA, earned the Doctoral Dissertation Award, dedicated to the memory of Dr. Kaveh Shamsa.

The ceremony also celebrated valedictorians and salutatorians representing programs across every college at the university, as well as graduates honored through the Kappa Eta Epsilon Honor Society.

The Walk That Made It All Worth It

After the speeches, the tributes and the awards, the moment every graduate had spent years working toward finally arrived. One by one, the Class of 2026 crossed the stage, reached for their diplomas and made it official. When the last name was called, Dr. Lee turned to face the room one final time and declared what everyone in that hall already felt in their bones: the Class of 2026 had earned every letter of those credentials, and Westcliff could not be prouder to send them into the world.

No commencement tells its full story without the voices of the people who actually crossed that stage.

Joel Ramirez earned his BBA after 10 years of service in the Marine Corps as a sergeant and had already re-enrolled in Westcliff’s MBA program before his diploma was in hand. He had a direct message for veterans considering the same path.

“They always make sure to leave no veteran behind,” Ramirez said. “They’re always checking in with us, making sure we’re up on our grades. If we need help, they always lead you in the right direction. Take advantage of the benefits we have. You never know where today might take you.”

Caps in the Air: What Comes Next

The Class of 2026 leaves Westcliff at a moment when the world is moving fast and the qualities that will matter most are ones that can’t be automated. Every speaker who took the stage this weekend arrived at the same conclusion from a different direction: compassion, courage, curiosity and the willingness to step forward when someone else needs you are what will define this generation’s impact.

Westcliff University is proud of every graduate who walked across that stage on June 27. The journeys that brought them to Costa Mesa were uniquely their own. What they do next belongs to the world.

Congratulations, Class of 2026. We cannot wait to see the future you create.