- More than 3,800 students graduated from Weber State University on Friday evening.
- Interim President Leslie Durham praised graduates' curiosity and resilience at the ceremony.
- Keynote speaker Kyle Poll encouraged embracing failure and defining personal success post-graduation.
OGDEN — A sea of multicolored tassels turned Friday evening inside the Dee Events Center in Ogden as more than 3,800 students became graduates of Weber State University.
"You are inspirational in your curiosity, your inventiveness, your resilience, and certainly in your brilliance," said interim President Leslie Durham during the university's 166th commencement ceremony.
Weber State's spring class of 2026 earned more than 4,517 credentials, spanning from certificates to associate's, bachelor's, and postgraduate degrees.
Individual college convocation ceremonies were also held throughout the day Friday and continuing on Saturday.
Weber State said its most-awarded degrees among 2026 graduates include nursing, radiography, health sciences, and computer science.
Student speaker Samone Samano gave an emotional speech about her journey to complete higher education.
"Standing here today feels surreal, not because I'm wearing this cap and gown — but because of the path it took to get here," she said. "I wish I could go back and tell my younger self that we made it — that the girl who once hated school, who felt broken, confused and out of place, would one day be standing here earning a college degree as a first-generation student."
Samano graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Special Education and a minor in English as a Second Language. She'll return to Weber State in the fall as an adjunct faculty member.
During her remarks, Samano credited her mother for pushing her to realize her dreams of becoming an educator and the professors who believed in her.
"Today I don't just graduate as Samone Samano the student; I graduate as Samone Samano — the proud daughter of hardworking parents; a Latina educator, and proof that sometimes all you need is just for someone to believe in you before you believe in yourself," she said.
Kyle Poll, a Weber State alumnus and CEO of Utah's GetOutPass, delivered the keynote address, sharing lessons to help students navigate their careers post-graduation.
Poll, who has also held dozens of other roles from finance to entrepreneurship, including nearly a decade at LinkedIn, offered several lessons of advice for the graduates.
He drew from personal experiences while advising graduates to embrace failure and rejection as it often precedes success.
"I've been rejected thousands of times — as a financial adviser, as a missionary, as an entrepreneur. I've seen thousands of red lights, but those thousands of red lights have led to hundreds of green lights," Poll said.
He also encouraged graduates to be courageous in doing hard things in life, to exude kindness — and he offered reassurance that it's OK to not know what's next after graduation.
"Think of your career in three circles; one is something you love, two is something you're good at, and three is something the world will pay you to do. Obviously your goal is to get the three to intersect. Now, the bad news is that you might not find that immediately; the good news is that everyone can find it — it just might take a little time and effort," Poll told the graduating class.
He concluded by encouraging students to never stop learning and to define their own success.
"It's a great day to be a Wildcat," he said.
