MS NOW President and veteran television executive Rebecca Kutler, B.A. ’01, urged the Class of 2026 to “show up” through moments of uncertainty, self-doubt and personal hardship during a heartfelt George Washington University Commencement address Sunday.
Kutler reflected on lessons from her time at GW, her journalism career and her battle with breast cancer as she encouraged students to continue stepping forward even when circumstances feel overwhelming.
“When I talk about showing up, I don’t just mean for big celebrations like this one,” she told the crowd of graduates, alumni, faculty, family and friends gathered on the National Mall. “I mean think about how important it is to show up for your people when life gets hard.”
A former political communication major, Kutler headlined an uplifting 2026 Commencement celebration as GW continued its tradition of being the only university to hold graduation ceremonies on the National Mall.
Touching on both the challenges and triumphs of her two decades in television news—from leading Emmy Award-winning programming to reshaping MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) into a modern newsroom that reaches 32 million Americans every week on cable—she credited GW classmates, colleagues and mentors with laying the foundations that shaped her career.
Opening with a joke on explaining cable broadcasting to a generation raised on digital media—“Think about a YouTube channel that runs 24/7 on your parents’ TV,” she said— Kutler admitted that this ceremony marked her first GW Commencement because she skipped her own. “That’s pretty ironic,” she said, “because one of the most important lessons I learned at GW is the power of showing up.”
Kutler recalled arriving at GW as a student fascinated by political journalism and eager to study under journalism luminary Steven Roberts, the J.B. and M.C. Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs. Determined to earn an internship with broadcast icon Cokie Roberts, Roberts' late wife who died in 2019, Kutler enrolled in his class only to suffer an ankle injury that required emergency surgery. The blow left her navigating campus—and her eventual internship with Cokie Roberts—on crutches.
“I was in pain, uncomfortable and, honestly, a little embarrassed,” she said. “But I kept showing up.”
Roberts’ class also transformed her personal life. She sat just a few seats away from her future husband, Dan, a fellow student whose kindness stood out as together they explored the Foggy Bottom campus and the rhythms of the nation’s capital. On their first date, “I still remember how he walked slowly by my side, matching the pace that I needed,” Kutler recalled. “And we’ve been by each other’s side ever since.”
Indeed, Kutler described leaning on her husband’s strengths when personal adversity threatened to overshadow her professional accomplishments. In 2025, after becoming president of then-MSNBC, Kutler was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“All these years, working toward an opportunity like this,” she said, “and now I wondered: Did I need to leave my job to focus on my health?”
Instead, supported by her husband and family, Kutler continued leading the network through months of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Standing before graduates Sunday, she announced that she is now cancer-free, eliciting enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
Kutler offered reassurances to graduates about resisting feelings of imposter syndrome as they begin careers and enter unfamiliar professional spaces. Recalling an internship assignment interviewing then-Senator John Kerry on Capitol Hill, Kutler admitted she felt intimidated as a 19-year-old student reporter questioning a prominent public official. “But I pushed through that imposter syndrome, and I showed up,” she said.
Throughout the speech, Kutler returned to themes of civic participation and democratic engagement, asking graduates to “show up for your country—because it is your country.”
She closed by imploring graduates to remain active in their communities and in public life and to honor their responsibility to vote, particularly during a consequential election year.
“I’m asking you to show up when times are hard because you are resilient and you are loved,” she told the Class of 2026. “I’m asking you to show up despite doubt because you are more prepared than you think. And I’m asking you to show up to preserve our democracy—because it doesn’t work without you.”
Welcome, graduates!
Interim Provost John Lach opened the ceremony by welcoming graduates and family members and introducing Board of Trustees Chair Grace Speights, J.D. ’82, who is completing her seven-year term this month.
After acknowledging her fellow trustees’ leadership and service, Speights asked the graduating students to salute their fellow graduates, faculty and family and friends for guiding them through their GW journey. Their time at GW, she said, equipped them with knowledge, curiosity and passion while shaping their trajectory into the future.
“Just as important as what you have learned is who you have become,” she said. “You are leaving this university more confident, more resilient and more prepared to lead.”
Speights then introduced GW President Ellen M. Granberg, who continued a Commencement tradition by asking the parents, families and friends of the Class of 2026 to rise to accept congratulations and thanks.
After also recognizing the unwavering dedication and support of GW faculty and staff, Granberg urged the graduates to savor the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with earning their degrees while cherishing their “only-at-GW” memories—from jogging along the National Mall to watching the sunrise over the Capitol dome to adding their voices to the halls of government and enjoying internships and research opportunities at nearby institutions like the World Bank, the State Department and the Smithsonian.
“You came [to GW] to be…in the middle of the action, not standing on the sidelines,” she said. “You came to prepare yourselves to be strong and resilient leaders. You came here so that you could change the world and, in the process, give voice to the causes that you believe in. And doing all that here in D.C. added so much to your GW experience.”
In her remarks, Madeleine Jacobs, B.S. ’68, HON ’03, chair of the GW Alumni Council, welcomed graduates to a family of more than 350,000 alumni from around the world. She implored graduates to actively embrace their role as mentors for students who would one day follow them across the Commencement stage.
“Today, I invite you to stay involved with GW and help to support the next generation of students, connect with our global alumni network and contribute to the enduring legacy of our university,” she said.
Meeting the moment
Jacobs then introduced the Class of 2026 student Commencement speaker, “double alum” Ethan Fitzgerald, B.A. ’25, who earned a master’s degree in political management from the College of Professional Studies to complement his earlier undergraduate degree in political science and organizational sciences.
A former Student Government Association (SGA) president and founder of Students for Mental Health Action, a coalition that advocates for bipartisan mental health legislation, Fitzgerald reflected on the initial uncertainty that marked his arrival at GW—and the sense of purpose he found along the way.
Fitzgerald shared the deeply personal story of how his mother raised him after his father died of cancer when he was 5 years old. “She didn’t get to feel ready. She didn’t get to pause. She met the moment anyway,” he said, crediting her perseverance for making his own accomplishments possible.
Drawing on his experiences at GW—including leading the SGA during what he described as a period of “national transition”—Fitzgerald praised students who channel the confidence and skills they acquired at GW to support one another and rise to the unexpected challenges in their paths. Indeed, he said the most inspiring part of his time at GW was watching other students “step up—advocating, building community, meeting moments we never asked for—but answered anyway.”
Fitzgerald also called on his fellow graduates to resist becoming overwhelmed “by the chaos of politics, the cruelty of headlines, by the sheer weight of everything young people are being asked to carry right now.” Instead, he reminded them that, while the world ahead may feel turbulent, their experiences at GW had given them the tools and resolve to help determine what comes next.
“Class of 2026, it is our time to meet this moment!” he said.
Honorary degrees
Granberg then returned to the podium to confer honorary degrees.
The first degree was bestowed to Virginia Ali, the pioneering entrepreneur and community leader who co-founded Ben’s Chili Bowl.
Established in 1958 with her late husband, Ben Ali, the neighborhood restaurant has become an iconic D.C. institution, welcoming generations of Washingtonians alongside presidents, civil rights leaders and artists. In introducing Ali, Provost Lach praised her for preserving the restaurant’s family ownership and local roots while expanding its reach and maintaining a deep commitment to mentorship, opportunity and service. Her work, Lach said “has helped define the spirit of Washington, D.C.”
He also applauded Ali’s enduring advocacy for small businesses, minority entrepreneurship and historic preservation across Washington. Her many honors include the James Beard Foundation’s America’s Classics Award, the National Humanities Medal and induction into the Washington Business Hall of Fame.
Lach noted that the history of Ben’s Chili Bowl is preserved in GW’s Gelman Library Special Collections Research Center, documenting the Ali family’s impact on Washington’s cultural and civic life.
The second degree was awarded to Michele Anthony, B.A. ’77, one of GW’s Monumental Alumni whose career as an entertainment industry executive has helped transform the global music business across decades.
As the current executive vice president of Universal Music Group and former president and chief operating officer of Sony Music Label Group U.S., Anthony has held senior leadership roles within two of the world’s most influential music companies. As a founder of the consulting and artist management firm 7H Entertainment, she represented musicians including Pearl Jam, Prince and Björk. Among her many accolades, Anthony, a former philosophy major at the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, was named female executive of the year by “Billboard” and is a permanent member of the magazine’s Women in Music Hall of Fame.
Lach praised Anthony’s creative vision, leadership and advocacy for women’s rights and equality, noting that she worked alongside feminist icon Gloria Steinem for more than 30 years. Through her service on boards such as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Global Citizen and the Recording Industry Association of America, Anthony has supported initiatives that expand opportunity, promote equity and effect social change, Lach said.
William Iġġiaġruk Hensley, B.A. ’66, one of the most influential Alaskan leaders of the last century, received the third honorary degree.
Born in a traditional Iñupiaq community, Hensley has devoted his career to advancing the rights of Native peoples and shaping the political, economic and cultural landscape of Alaska and the nation as a whole.
In 1966, the same year he earned a GW bachelor’s degree in political science and economics, he emerged as a principal architect of the Alaska Natives land rights movement. Author of the landmark essay, “What Rights to Land Have the Alaska Natives,” Hensley played a central role in the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971—one of the most consequential Indigenous rights laws in U.S. history.
Lach also recognized Hensley’s service in the Alaska Legislature and his efforts to expand healthcare and social services across Northwest Alaska. Lach praised Hensley’s acclaimed memoir “Fifty Miles from Tomorrow” as emblematic of his lifetime commitment to, Lach said, “educate and inspire new generations about Alaska’s history and the enduring struggle for Native sovereignty.”
Graduating student Kiersten Colmenares, who earned a bachelor’s of arts in marketing and French language and literature, assisted Granberg in presenting Ali’s honorary degree.
Isis Loaiza Leon, B.A. ’24, who received an M.S. in business analytics and had previously earned a bachelor’s in business administration, helped award Anthony’s Doctor of Public Service while Lucy Bird, an economics and political science major, aided Granberg in presenting the honorary degree to Hensley.
Margot Diamond, a graduating journalism and mass communication student, helped Granberg present Kutler with her honorary degree.
The main event!
As the main event approached, Lach called on students to celebrate their accomplishments—whether in their classrooms, labs, studios or internships. “Your years here haven’t just been an important chapter of your educational journey, they are part of a lifetime of inquiry, discovery and service,” he said
Finally, the proud moment for the Class of 2026 arrived when friends, family and loved ones cheered graduates as they received their degrees.
In her charge earlier in the program, Granberg praised the Class of 2026 for their impact on campus and beyond, pointing to students’ passion for sustainability, healthcare innovation and civil discourse.
At the same time, she acknowledged the uncertainty facing graduates as they enter a world marked by economic instability, political polarization and rapid technological change. While many questions about the future remain unresolved, Granberg said GW students have consistently confronted challenges directly and work toward meaningful change.
“The desire to make a difference defines the spirit I see in GW students every day,” she said. “So many of you feel an enormous responsibility to make the world a better place. You see a need and you do your best to meet it.”
Drawing connections to the nation’s approaching 250th anniversary, Granberg said the spirit of being “revolutionary” is rooted not in certainty or agreement, but in the courage to move forward together in pursuit of something greater. She singled out GW student initiatives that illustrate how “this remarkable class defines what it means to be a revolutionary”— from supporting transfer students to creating healthcare solutions to promoting civil discourse by reviving GW’s tradition of student-led policy debates on campus.
“Class of 2026, here is my charge to you,” she said. “In the face of the uncertain and the unknown, draw on the strength and friendships you forged here at GW. Show up for one another and for the causes you care about. Believe in yourself and stay true to your vision. Above all, go forth boldly with conviction, and show the world what it means to be a GW Revolutionary. Congratulations, Class of 2026—and raise high!”
