Kingsborough Celebrates Class of 2026

Nearly 160 graduates were English-language learners when they enrolled at Kingsborough, she said, and 18 students were graduating that day with a family member. 

“Our eldest grad is 68,” Duitch said. “Congratulations, Lorraine.”  

Graduates included students who completed certificate programs or earned associate degrees across 37 majors in August 2025, January 2026, and June 2026. They also included students graduating with dual high school diplomas and associate degrees.  

In her remarks, Duitch encouraged the Class of 2026 to be like the team whose championship win was also being celebrated that day, not only in their talent, ability to turn luck into opportunity, and perseverance against the odds, but also in their authenticity.  

 “So, when I say be like the Knicks, I also mean: Be real, be yourself, and be connected to others,” she said. “You have the support of this college community behind you permanently no matter where you go and what you do. I hope you always remember that.” 

Keynote Address

In his remarks, keynote speaker Gregg Bishop, executive director of the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation Social Justice Fund and former commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services, urged graduates to focus on service, action and community.  

But first, he paid tribute to the borough he and many of the graduates call home.  

“Graduates you made it,” said Bishop, who grew up in East Flatbush. “And you did it here in Brooklyn. A borough that teaches resilience before it teaches anything else.” 

He talked about what it means to leave one’s mark, not just in a career, but also on the people around them, the communities they call home, the systems that shape them and the society that shapes those systems.  

“Leaving your mark is not about what you collect; it is about what you contribute,” he said. “It is not about what you accumulate; it is about what you improve.” 

The country is being shaped in real time by debates over representation, participation, and whose voices matter, he said, “that means your responsibility is larger than building a career.” 

“So here is my charge to you: If systems exclude people, dismantle them. If policies silence communities, confront them,” Bishop said. He urged Kingsborough grads to refuse to adapt to injustice and to ask the difficult questions. 

“Be catalysts for change,” he said. 

The ceremony also featured remarks from Dr. Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, a member of the CUNY Board of Trustees, Dr. John Mikalopas, chair of the physical sciences department, who shared faculty greetings, and Class of 2026 Valedictorian Urwa Faraz Malik.  

“She said I was given an opportunity here and instead of quitting, I could build something stronger for myself at Kingsborough,” Malik recalled. Jahangir encouraged Malik to enroll in a work/study program, which she did, where she was assigned to the STEM Student Advisement Academy. It changed her trajectory. 

“Working there became my first real gateway into understanding the U.S. academic system,” she said. “I learned how to navigate schedules, courses, and opportunities, but more importantly, how I could belong here at Kingsborough.” 

She credited her academic success, which includes national recognition as a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholar—one of only 60 community college students in the U.S. to earn the award—to the Kingsborough community.  

“At Kingsborough, I learned that success is never achieved alone,” she said. “Behind every student sitting here today is a community of professors, mentors, staff members, friends, and family who believed in you, supported you, and helped you become who you are,” she said. “This remarkable community changed the course of my life, and I know it has changed yours as well.” 

She closed her speech with a piece of advice, in Urdu, her first language, that echoed the themes of Bishop’s address, reminding graduates that even as individuals, they are part of a collective voice, and that they should use it for the collective good: "Bol ke lab azaad hain tere, bol ke zubaan ab tak teri hai,’” she said. “This translates to: “‘Speak up, for your lips are free, speak up, for your voice still belongs to you.’”