Spring Commencement Celebrates the Power of Human Connection
In a ceremony honoring 222 Middlebury Institute graduates from 27 countries, speakers highlighted the global community embodied by the “MIIS family” of students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
Students, family, faculty, staff, and alumni celebrated the achievements of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) spring Class of 2026 on Saturday, May 16, in a Commencement ceremony that highlighted the value of human connection.
“The degrees and titles are important, but what really matters are the relationships you gain at the Institute,” said graduating student Jake Lopata MANPTS ’26 (MA in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies), a Marine Corps veteran who was recently awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study in Panama. “MIIS is a uniquely supportive community because of the people it attracts.”
Speakers at the ceremony, which was held on Colton Hall lawn in downtown Monterey, included California State Senate Majority Leader Emeritus Bill Monning—a member of the Institute faculty from 1991 to 2008—student speaker Julena Wuer MATLM ’26 (MA in Translation and Localization Management), Middlebury Provost Michelle McCauley, and Dean of the Institute Jeff Dayton-Johnson. The class featured 222 graduating students from 27 countries.
Senator Monning described the graduates as “among the best trained on the planet to bring together experts in multiple disciplines to explore pathways to peace, global sustainability, cross-cultural communication, and public health.” Noting the graduating students’ new role as part of the “family” of alumni, Monning underscored that “as we talk about the MIIS family, we are really talking about the power of human connections.”
Student Speaker Julena Wuer agreed. “Over the past two years, I’ve truly felt how warm and powerful the MIIS community is. I met my best friends here … to me MIIS is not just a school. It’s a home. [The sense of community] encouraged me to give back and be part of something bigger than myself.”
As we talk about the MIIS family, we are really talking about the power of human connections.
A native of Liangshan, China, Wuer explained that she is the first person from her hometown to earn a graduate degree in the United States. She holds a BA from China Agricultural University and was awarded a Stilwell Scholarship to support her studies at the Middlebury Institute. During her time in Monterey, she served as a graduate assistant and teaching assistant for her academic program, and as social media manager for the Institute chapter of Women in Localization. Wuer closed her remarks by exhorting her fellow graduates to “keep making yourself be seen and heard. Keep trying. Keep exploring. And never let anyone define your limits.”
Provost McCauley called the ceremony “a transformational moment” for graduates and everyone who has been on this journey with them. Dean Dayton-Johnson’s remarks celebrated the value of hope, in the context of both the work being undertaken by graduates and the hope that the school itself may endure. “Hope is doing what is right—advancing understanding, promoting peace—because it is worth doing, regardless of the probability of success.”
Keep making yourself be seen and heard. Keep trying. Keep exploring. And never let anyone define your limits.
Monning told the graduates they now “carry the privilege and responsibility of being ambassadors of the MIIS legacy and the MIIS family.… You bring tools to a world that needs your skills now more than ever.” In his remarks he also paid tribute to several faculty colleagues who died in recent years: President Emeritus Robert Gard and professors Jan Knippers Black, Tsuneo Akaha, Edgard Coly, and Glynn Wood.
Following his remarks, Senator Monning received an honorary doctorate degree. During his time at the Institute, Monning cofounded the nonprofit organization Global Majority and, as a legislator, he had over 100 bills signed into law with a focus on labor rights, environment, education, and health care. Monning, who holds an AB in international development from UC Berkeley and a JD from the University of San Francisco, is currently a distinguished professor of law at the Monterey College of Law.
The procession was once again led by a resonant fanfare of bagpipes played by Professor Mike Gillen, who is retiring from his faculty role this year. Dozens of staff, students, and community volunteers coordinated and supported the ceremony and subsequent reception for graduates and their families on the Pierce Street Promenade.
The ceremony opened with a land acknowledgment recognizing the Indigenous heritage of the Institute’s downtown Monterey campus, a statement that also spoke of “the sacred web of life” and the connectedness of all living things. It was a sentiment mirrored in Monning’s and Wuer’s remarks, for good reason—history has proven again and again that the sustaining fuel of lasting change is genuine human connection.