More than 8,000 graduates celebrated at University-wide Commencement
Published: May 19, 2026 2:37 PM
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With the boom of a cannon and flight of mortarboards into the blue midday sky, thousands of Colorado State University students graduated Saturday at Canvas Stadium on the Fort Collins campus.
The University-wide Commencement celebrated the achievements of 8,460 students earning bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees during Fall 2025 and Spring and Summer 2026. More than 6,000 graduates and some 40,000 supporters were on campus for an array of commencement celebrations on Friday and Saturday.
U.S. Olympic bobsledder Hunter Powell was guest speaker at the all-university stadium event. He grew up in Fort Collins and earned a bachelor’s degree in physics at CSU in 2019.
Powell recounted years of grueling training in collegiate decathlon to become a conference champion and NCAA championship qualifier during his time at CSU. All the while, he dreamed of becoming an Olympian. But it wasn’t until he switched sports and became a bobsledder – at the urging of his fiancé, Kaysha Love, a world champion in bobsled – that Powell found his path to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
‘Chase your dreams’
“We have a responsibility as people to chase our dreams,” Powell told the new graduates. “You owe it not only to yourself but to the people around you, the people in this stadium and the people you have yet to meet to chase your dreams.
“Dreams are the great motivators in life; they are the height of our goals,” he continued. “And the crazy part is, it is not actually about achieving your dreams. It is about the person you become along the way, the people you come to meet and the impact you have on others while in pursuit of that dream.”
To boisterous clapping and whooping, Powell later emphasized to the graduates: “Only you know what you are capable of and how far you can go; don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Dare to be great, dare to be excellent, dare to be impactful, dare to have significance, and dare to be truly exceptional.”
Also during the ceremony, CSU President Amy Parsons conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters upon former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr., who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from CSU before going on to law school. The honorary degree recognizes an individual whose achievements exemplify CSU’s mission and values.
“He shares our deep belief that education, public service and civic responsibility are essential to a thriving democracy,” Parsons said of Ritter, who was raised on a Colorado farm and later served for more than a decade as Denver’s district attorney.
Ritter’s service
Ritter – who urged new grads to pursue “heroic ambitions” – was governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011, when he positioned the state as a national leader in clean and renewable energy. He then founded CSU’s Center for the New Energy Economy, a think tank that works to craft pragmatic, bipartisan energy and climate policy.
“In all he does, he models the respectful dialogue and collaborative problem-solving that democracy requires,” said Parsons, who has made the advancement of democracy a priority at Colorado State University.
Parsons herself earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at CSU before gaining her law degree and later becoming president of her alma mater. Saturday was a special day for Parsons too, as she celebrated the graduation of her daughter, a second-generation Ram.
“This is a world that can sometimes make people feel disconnected from one another – a world that moves fast, a world that too often tells people to go it alone. But not here,” Parsons said in remarks to the graduates. “Here, you found friendship, mentors, teammates, community. People who challenged you, believed in you and helped shape who you are becoming.
“That is the power of a great university.”