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New Jersey City University Honors Class of 2026 in Historic Final Commencement
New Jersey City University held its final standalone commencement ceremony Tuesday, May 19, at the Prudential Center in Newark, awarding 1,551 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to the Class of 2026 before the university’s merger with Kean University takes effect July 1.
The ceremony marked the end of NJCU’s nearly century-long history as an independent institution. The merged university will be known as Kean Jersey City.
NJCU President Andres Acebo presided over the ceremony, addressing graduates as the bridge between the university’s past and future. “For nearly one hundred years, this campus has been holy ground for strivers,” Acebo said. “Not privileged people. Determined people.”
Of the 1,191 undergraduate degrees conferred, 339 students graduated with honors, including 107 Summa Cum Laude, 93 Magna Cum Laude, and 139 Cum Laude.
Jorge A. Plasencia, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Republica Havas, received an honorary degree and delivered the commencement address. “Your diploma may carry your name, but your story has many authors,” Plasencia said. “Honor them by how you live and now go become an author in someone else’s story.”
Suraj Kaufman, founder and CEO of Sneaker Room and the Sneaker Room Foundation, received the Presidential Medallion, the university’s highest honor for community impact.
Jersey City Mayor James Solomon, a former NJCU adjunct professor, welcomed attendees and acknowledged the university’s impact on generations of city residents.
Student speaker Gabriella Martinez, a Mathematics Education major and Jersey City native, drew applause with a tribute to the city and the institution. “Jersey City didn’t just raise me. It shaped me,” Martinez said. “We’re not rough, we’re tough.”
The final undergraduate to cross the stage was Sonya C. Brown, a member of NJCU’s Admissions Department staff since 2010, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
