Their classwork is done; their tassels have been turned.

But even as a chapter is closing for the class of 2025—American University’s largest graduating class in history—their AU story isn’t finished.

“Wherever you go, whatever you do, you will always be an Eagle. As we say around here, once an Eagle, always an Eagle,” President Jon Alger said. “You will carry this place to help shape, guide, support, and challenge you as part of who you are and who you will become.”

More than 3,000 graduates joined an alumni community 150,000 Eagles strong during AU’s 149th commencement over the weekend. For one AU family, the milestone moment was nearly three decades in the making.

On Saturday, May 10, longtime staff members Alef Worku and Guenet Assefa, Kogod/BSBA ’09, MS ’12—who have both worked at AU for more than 25 years—watched as their son, Ezra Alef, SPA/BA ’25, graduated magna cum laude with a degree in justice and law.

“I am very proud of Ezra,” said Assefa, a double Eagle who was pregnant with her son as she began her own undergraduate studies as a full-time staffer in the early 2000s. “First and foremost, I thank God for all of Ezra’s accomplishments. He is a hard worker.”

“We’re all AU,” added Alef Worku, manager of transportation programs and maintenance in Facilities Management. “AU has been great to us.”

In 1997, Worku set off a chain reaction when he started working part-time as an AU bus mechanic. In 1999, Assefa landed her own job in Facilities Management administration.

Using AU’s tuition remission benefit, their son followed in their footsteps for college, spending four years studying where he’d attended daycare, summer camp, and felt “at home.”

“I knew that attending AU would provide a top-tier education and the kind of opportunities that could shape a meaningful career,” Alef said. “I am eager to apply what I learned in SPA and make an impact.”

Here are highlights from commencement.

College of Arts and Sciences

Through three stories of finding her own way, Radha Muthiah, president and CEO of Capital Area Food Bank, shared golden nuggets with graduates about how to treat people and find success.

Among those lessons: give and receive help freely; find your voice; and do your part to ensure others feel a sense of belonging.

“Almost every positive change we can make in this life is rooted in the way we engage with other people,” Muthiah said. “This is the throughline of every story I’ve shared today. When we accept help from others and give it freely, we all get what we need. When we listen to our hearts and jump into the void, it is the people in our lives who form the nets that will catch us. When we make it a point to include others, grab their hands, and bring them along as we climb, we contribute to a cycle of upward momentum that helps more of us thrive.”

School of International Service

Elhadj As Sy, a Senegalese global health, development, and humanitarian leader, reminded SIS graduates their calling is no ordinary career path.

“You are joining a community of international servants, a caring community for peace, a caring community to help restore what is most important to all of us—our human dignity,” the former secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said. “That is indeed the power and journey of international service, the privilege to be part of the solution when many are part of the problem. That is a special cause that attracts special people.”

School of Public Affairs

Actor, director, and playwright Colman Domingo told Eagles they’ll need two things in their toolkit to handle life: love and an instinct to look for good.

Domingo quoted his Euphoria character, a recovering drug addict named Ali, when he shared, “When all else fails, you have to believe in poetry.”

“[Poetry] is about goodness and light. It’s about watching babies take their first step. It’s about people being curious,” he said. “It’s about people falling in love, and distilling all the good that’s in the world because there’s so much darkness in the world. I’m a very hopeful person. I believe there’s so much good, and there’s so much magic. You just have to look around; it’s everywhere.”  

School of Education and School of Communication

Almar Latour, SOC/MA ’96, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and CEO of Dow Jones shared insights about entering a career in communications, journalism, or the classroom through his career as reporter and leader.

“If you only remember a few words from me today, I hope they are [these]: be humble; be grateful for second chances; take your seat at the table; persevere and fight for your beliefs in service to others,” Latour said. “Because you are journalists, communicators, teachers, the builders of a new era. You, along with the entire class of 2025, are the future of America and the world.”

Kogod School of Business

Orlando Bravo, the founder and managing partner of Thoma Bravo, spread positivity through his upbeat graduation speech.

The leader of one of the largest software-focused investors in the world asked graduates to see the opportunity in searching for that first job, brainstorming new ideas, or discovering how they can make a difference.

“The big picture is that the world is wide open for you to do whatever it is you want to do,” said Bravo, one of the largest software-focused investors in the world. “Stay positive. Stay with it. If your opportunity hasn’t come yet, it will come. Stay positive.”

AU’s 149th commencement continues with the Washington College of Law at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 17. Gloria Allred, an attorney and founding partner of Allred, Maroko, and Goldberg, will address graduates in Bender Arena.