Commencement is an exciting time and a feast for all the senses — it’s understandable if one’s attention sometimes flickered away from the oratory onstage. So, we present another chance to take in the students’ words. Here is Valedictorian Joseph Newswander’s speech, or poem; Graduate Student Speaker Kaarthika Thakker’s speech, and also speeches written by two runners-up for the graduate student speaker role. All of these reflections remind us of both the school year past and the plans and possibilities that lie ahead.
Valedictorian Joseph Newswander
Greetings Dean Mantsios, faculty and staff of the CUNY School of Labor and Urban studies, distinguished guests, my fellow graduates, families, and friends!
I want to congratulate my fellow graduates here today from the CUNY SLU Class of 2025. I want us to take a moment to take a deep breath because, we made it through this chapter, reinvigorated with the knowledge, community and resilience to take on the causes that drive us. Let’s take that moment together now.
If we didn’t have causes to drive us, I know we would probably be somewhere else, doing something else. Not something worse or less valuable, but something different. But we had certain objectives that brought us here — brought us to SLU — brought us to a school that is exceptionally different.
The truths we examined were that these unprecedented times were indeed precedented and the acute erosion of rights and dignity for marginalized folks was not an anomaly but rather a continuation of historical patterns.
That’s what led us to SLU; a desire to pay attention to power structures and build a different kind of power: one that can strive to be truly for a collective benefit.
And, so I would be remiss here if I did not give a speech that was at least somewhat different.
So here’s a poem:
I didn’t have time to write my speech —
Because the D train went local,
Because there was pizza on the 14th floor,
Because my friends and neighbors live in fear,
Torn from homes,
Sent back to lands they can’t thrive in,
Held hostage by global forces beyond their control.I didn’t have time to write my speech —
Because Mamdani hasn’t made the buses free just yet,
Because 16 credits weigh heavier than they sound,
And so does 40 hours a week
Without protection from the economic precarity lying in wait
Without assurances of better times,
when it will feel safe to speak out about the injustices towards others.
I didn’t have time to write my speech —
Because of a committee’s committee meeting,
Because of unprecedented call volume.
And we still can’t find a living wage to support ourselves or a family
Or a democratic workplace.
Because I’m mourning the loss of life and livelihood suffered by my loved ones due to senseless gun violence and a lack of adequate mental healthcare.
I didn’t have time to write my speech —
Because campuses around us are unsafe,
Where student voices are stifled from speaking out amidst a campaign of fear and retribution
While children and hospitals are bombed,
In wars waged over lands I hardly learned of in school.
I didn’t have time to write my speech —
Because if I’d been born elsewhere,
Or with different skin,
Bars could’ve caged me instead of this podium.
But as I toured pivotal street corners
and pondered the meaning of a “right to the city,”
I knew, I had to write my speech —
I’m stuck with the question of how my voice can amplify others, and
Not overshadow or distort.
I don’t know what words can bridge
The graduation I missed in 2020,
Or speak for every student here.
But speaking up
Is always better than silence,
and students here are anything but.
I’ve changed since I began classes here and so has the world.
Thank you all for this journey together, and I can’t wait to advocate on the frontlines with you.
In solidarity,
Your Valedictorian
Graduate Student Speaker Kaarthika Thakker
Congratulations to everyone who is graduating today or celebrating a graduate. Getting our degrees is truly a group effort. I couldn’t have done it without my classmates — y’all are the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. Students at SLU work full-time jobs, care for their families, commute for hours, and have committed their lives to fighting for a better world. And even though we have a million places to be, they will still hold the elevator door open for you even when it starts beeping. Thank you to the faculty and staff, who always go out of their way to make sure we have what we need to succeed here. Special shoutout to Professor Cameron Black, who rescued me from the 19th floor computer lab when I closed the door and locked myself in even though there is a huge sign saying not to close the door. I’m so honored to call myself an alum, because it means I am connected to every person in this room.
I’m a proud immigrant, and the first generation in my family to get a graduate degree. But, for me, getting a master’s was not part of the plan. Three years ago, I had just gotten a job as a union organizer, supporting workers who were bravely working together to fight for what they deserve. These workers were inspiring but when they turned to me for answers, I didn’t feel like I knew enough, I didn’t feel like I was enough. I know many of y’all have felt this way before, because we’ve talked about it.
But the first time I was brave enough to admit that I felt this way, it was to a total stranger at a birthday party, and I could tell that she had felt this way too. At the end of the conversation she said, have you heard of “SLU”? CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies? Her name is Melanie Kruvelis, another SLU alum and, like a good organizer, she followed up with me when the applications opened and made sure I applied.
Now I’m here, and looking back, although every single class I took at SLU blew my mind, the most important thing I learned from my professors is that sometimes it’s not about having the answer but asking the right question. The main question I’m walking away with today: How do we create a world where everyone has enough, not just to survive, but to thrive and live healthy and fulfilled lives?
At SLU, I learned there is no one path to a better world; rather it’s about the process of listening, challenging your assumptions, and making decisions together to benefit everyone, and sometimes that also requires making hard choices. This process is called democracy, and it’s what we need for more just workplaces, cities, and our society.
Right now, public education is under attack. The president is proposing slashing the education budget by 12 billion dollars. Students are being targeted by the government for speaking up against the U.S. funded genocide in Gaza, and our neighbor, Mahmoud Khalil, is still in ICE custody.
Education is political; we have to fight for fully funded education where we can critique society and organize ourselves to make it better. Students at SLU, across the CUNY system, and across the country are leading the way in this fight.
I am leaving SLU with humility for all that I still don’t know but confidence to ask questions and go forward anyway, and most importantly, I am leaving with a community of some of the bravest people I know – people who remind me that we should never settle, because we know that it’s not only possible to live in a world without violence and daily injustice, but that that is the world we deserve. Congratulations everyone. We have a lot of work to do.
Speech submission by Dennis Dias, M.A. in Urban Studies
I am honored to stand before you today with a question—one that carries different answers for each of us. What is New York? Is it a place? An origin? A destination? A state of mind? A problem? A solution? An engine driving a vast country and an even wider world?
As a CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies graduate, I can tell you, it is all these things.
Today’s graduates are uniquely positioned to answer this question. However, you have the collective fortune — or misfortune — of hearing from me.
At SLU, we studied urban systems, labor movements, and social justice. We debated them in classrooms, confronted them in our work, and found solidarity in each other. Many of us juggled jobs, families, and advocacy work while pursuing our degrees. We studied on crowded trains, read late into the night, and wrote papers between shifts. And yet, here we are: ready to turn what we’ve learned into action.
I came to New York in 2013 to pursue a career in public education. Like many before me, Americans by birth, choice, and necessity, I saw immeasurable possibilities in New York.
But we cannot talk about New York without acknowledging its contradictions. This city stands on stolen Lenape land, enriched by the trans-Atlantic slave trade and physically shaped by systemic racism. It serves a global economic system that too often fails to meet basic human needs. Yet, New York is also a city of workers, community organizers, educators, and advocates—people who strive to leave it better than they found it.
We are uniquely empowered to confront these contradictions. We can tell you what New York is because we build and rebuild it daily. And though we may sometimes feel individually overwhelmed by the enormity of this task, collectively, we know that resignation is not an option.
The world needs cities. America needs New York. And New York needs critically educated New Yorkers.
Right now, my students and millions of children across Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens — yes, even Staten Island — are learning in public schools despite significant impediments. My wildest dream is for all of them to grow up to be New Yorkers as passionate, empathetic, courageous, and intellectually curious as my peers graduating today.
And if that is possible, I do not doubt liberty, justice, and democracy will prevail.
I leave you with three final requests. Never stop learning because engagement is the first step toward change. Never doubt your power to shape the world around you. And never do it alone because solidarity is how we overcome the odds.
Congratulations, SLU Class of 2025.
Speech submission by Kevin Wilson, M.A. in Labor Studies
Good afternoon, Dean Gregory Mantsios, Distinguished Guests, family members and fellow graduates.
My name is Kevin Wilson, and I am one of the graduates from our stellar graduating class at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies simply tasked with speaking on behalf of this graduating class.
Today marks a pivotal moment in our lives. A moment where we see a callous presentation of the way our leaders treat those who are different in our society.
But as I stand here, I am confident that we are embarking on a new leg of our journey equipped with the necessary tools needed to confront and challenge these injustices in our society.
Our journey in preparation for this venture began in the classrooms and has been nothing short of educational, remarkable and transformative.
Firstly, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our dedicated professors, university staff and our families. Your unwavering support and guidance has been our guiding star. Your belief in our dreams has been our strongest foundation, and now we will take those beliefs and put them into a new kind of leadership; one that is built around a shift in culture, a change in the way we appreciate and care for each other.
This journey was filled with special moments and achievements such as spending countless hours in preparation for paper submissions, and classroom presentations. This journey was not solely about theoretical knowledge, but from every experience. We were able to build lifelong friendships while we learn. We shared many laughs, suffered some down moments, but overall, we grew more resilient with each obstacle.
Obstacles were many for some in comparison to others. Nevertheless, we all had memorable lessons from our classroom time, and one memorable moment for me was doing my final presentation in my Labor Law class at a 7-11 store located in the Bronx.
However, no matter what the obstacle, we always conquered it as a group. The biggest obstacle that we conquered was when it was time to attack the final leg of the journey in preparation for and submission of our thesis and Capstone body of work.
It is an emotional time for many of our graduates, but for all it is a period where we are now eagerly anticipating the unseen journey ahead and how do we strategize our next moves.
But today is not just about reminiscing. It’s about embracing the future; a future which carries tremendous uncertainty for many who are considered voiceless.
So, as we step forth, let’s carry the lessons and memories we have picked up on this journey with us.
Our hopes and dreams are many, but we must all stand in solidarity and continue the never-ending fight for the preservation of human dignity.
We are change agents and we are standing up for what is just and right in our society.
To my fellow graduates, please continue this work with determination and courage.
In the famous words of William Orville Douglas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, “The liberties of none are safe unless the liberties of all are protected.”
So, as we close this chapter of our CUNY journey, let us embark with steadfast commitment and a resolve for challenging injustices in our society. Let us embrace the infinite possibilities that lie ahead. Let us nurture our dreams, pursue our passions, and strive to make a positive impact on the world around us.
Best wishes to all my colleagues, the graduating class of 2025 in their future endeavors. May our paths be filled with success, fulfillment, and endless possibilities. Thank you.