Rice University conferred more than 2,900 degrees to its newest graduates — the most in the university’s history — during its 112th commencement weekend held May 9-10. Saturday evening, more than 1,300 undergraduate students gathered with their mentors and loved ones in Rice Stadium to celebrate their graduation as the Class of 2025. It was a powerful culmination of years of perseverance, growth, hard-won triumphs and lasting friendships, all grounded in a shared commitment to learning and discovery.
The celebration began with the ceremonial walk through Lovett Hall’s iconic Sallyport, a rite of passage that bookends every Rice student’s experience. By 5 p.m., the Academic Quadrangle buzzed with excitement as seniors in full regalia lined up behind the banners of their residential colleges, preparing for the symbolic march. Just four years earlier, many of them had marched in the opposite direction, welcomed by their O-Week siblings. Now, their families waited on the other side, ready to greet them as they made their ceremonial departure from Rice — and their official entrance into the next chapter of their lives.
Once seated at Rice Stadium, graduates and their guests were welcomed by Bridget Gorman, dean of undergraduates, who introduced alumnus Robert T. Ladd, chairman of the Rice Board of Trustees.
Ladd reassured the graduating class that they are well prepared for what lies ahead, joking that alumni often say that after Rice, most everything else seems relatively easy. He encouraged them to stay connected to Rice and one another while always remembering those less fortunate than themselves.
“As you leave our campus and accomplish much in your lives with your Rice degree, find ways to be helpful to others,” Ladd said. “This will make such a difference.”
‘A jewel in Houston’s crown’
The evening’s keynote speaker was internationally renowned neurogeneticist Dr. Huda Zoghbi, a Rice trustee emerita and champion of scientific discovery. Zoghbi, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and founding director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, has received some of science’s highest honors, including the Breakthrough Prize, the Kavli Prize and the Shaw Prize, for her transformative impact on medicine and neuroscience.
In a moving and deeply personal commencement address, Zoghbi captivated the audience with a message that wove together hardship, discovery and the power of human kindness.
“I am deeply honored to be speaking to you today,” she began, “because Rice University is truly a jewel in Houston’s crown. It has attracted incredible talents to the city over the past century and sent them out into the world as gifts to humanity.”
Zoghbi reflected on her own journey — from her childhood in Beirut, Lebanon, to becoming a pioneering researcher. Her career has been marked by a series of pivotal moments, many of them unexpected, including a medical education disrupted by civil war and a chance encounter with a patient that led her to become the first U.S. physician to characterize Rett syndrome.
“It became clear to me that my calling was to figure out the cause of this strange and terrible disease,” she said.
Over decades, Zoghbi’s team helped discover the gene for Rett syndrome, revealed critical insights into neurodegeneration and developed therapies now being tested in patients. One of her most poignant stories involved salvaging a lone mouse from a flooded lab during Tropical Storm Allison — a survivor that became the key to a breakthrough therapy.
“Thanks to the descendants of that one mouse, we developed a therapy that was able to reverse the disease in the sick mice,” she said. “I’m happy today to report that we are now testing this therapy in patients.”
Zoghbi emphasized that success often hinges on unexpected opportunities and the courage to pursue them.
“Pay attention to the opportunities that present themselves, because they may be necessary steps towards the future you seek,” she advised. “Most of our greatest discoveries have happened through happy accidents.”
Beyond scientific insights, Zoghbi encouraged graduates to live generously.
“This is the beauty of academia — it is a gift economy, not a market economy,” she said. “By being generous in turn, I have kept [my mentors’] original gifts to me circulating in the lives of my students and colleagues.”
Her parting wisdom reminded graduates of the power of relationships, collaboration and compassion.
“Ultimately, success is a team sport,” Zoghbi said. “We are all part of a great chain of learners … choose friends and loved ones who will help you become stronger in character, gentler in spirit and truer to your best self.”
‘You are more ready than you realize’
In a heartfelt and forward-looking address, President Reginald DesRoches honored the newly minted graduates not only for their academic achievements but for their resilience in the face of uncertainty. He noted that the Class of 2025 had experienced a college journey unlike any other: entering amid a global pandemic, adapting to new methods of learning and emerging technologies and witnessing the transformation of Rice’s campus and leadership.
“But here’s what I want you to know, Rice graduates: You are more ready than you realize,” he said. “The uncertainties you faced at Rice didn’t break you — they shaped you into more adaptable, more resilient and more resourceful individuals.”
Drawing on his background as a structural earthquake engineer, DesRoches illustrated the parallels between physical and personal resilience.
“When we design structures for earthquakes, it is not about avoiding damage. It is about controlling the damage in a way where you can quickly repair and recover,” he said. “Similarly, the type of resilience you need isn’t about avoiding failure. It’s about developing the capacity to learn from, quickly recover and grow through the challenges that will come your way.”
DesRoches offered two key lessons from engineering that apply to life: the importance of flexibility — being open-minded and adaptable — and the value of redundancy or diverse support systems.
“Build diverse networks. Continue to surround yourself with people from different backgrounds and perspectives,” he urged.
In closing, DesRoches offered a message of pride and optimism, reiterating that Rice has never been stronger and that the graduating Class of 2025 is more than equipped to face the future.
‘Adapt and embrace the unexpected’
Kelsea Whiting from Brown College served as the student commencement speaker. A first-generation college student from the small town of Colusa, California, she graduated as a double major in political science and visual and dramatic arts with a concentration in photography. During her time at Rice, Whiting served as a cheerleading captain and as the vice chair of the University Court. After graduation, she will attend Belmont Law School in Nashville, Tennessee, on a full-ride scholarship.
In a heartfelt and humorous address, Whiting celebrated the Class of 2025’s journey with a message that championed resilience, connection and finding family in unexpected places. She recalled her move-in day as both disorienting and symbolic.
“Picture this: a small-town girl from a town of just 5,000 people, already homesick … I was overwhelmed, a bit lost and — let’s be honest — sweaty,” she began. “Then right on cue, a car sped through a puddle and drenched me from head to toe. Welcome to Houston, where even the rain is ambitious.”
That soggy moment, she said, came to embody her experience at Rice: “Life’s going to drench you when you least expect it, and all you can do is laugh it off, find a dryer and keep moving. It was also my first lesson in what would become a theme of my Rice experience: adapt and embrace the unexpected.”
Throughout her speech, Whiting emphasized how for her Rice transformed from a campus of strangers into a true community.
“Rice has a way of turning strangers into friends and friends into family,” she said. “Where else would you find someone willing to bike across campus in the rain just to deliver a forgotten laptop? Or someone who’d hand over their sweater in class because you didn’t dress thinking that Houston’s weather would switch from summer to winter in the span of 10 minutes?”
Whiting didn’t shy away from the challenges of college life, either.
“It wasn’t just the fun moments that brought us together — it was the tough yet oddly relatable ones too,” she said. “Like bombing a test and laughing it off with friends or missing home but finding comfort in a late-night conversation.”
Her closing message was a rallying call: “Let’s go make the world a little brighter, a little kinder and a lot more like Rice.”
‘Exceptional’ teaching, classes and people
New graduates across disciplines reflected on their time at Rice and what makes being an Owl so special.
Sophie Urban, a graduating trumpet performance major from the Shepherd School of Music, said that if she had to do it all over again, she would in a heartbeat.
“One of the major reasons I actually chose Shepherd was because I was really debating between a university environment and a conservatory,” Urban said. “And I would make my choice time and again to come back, because I feel like I’ve gotten the best of both worlds.”
Jae Kim, who majored in integrative biology, minored in environmental studies and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University after graduation, said his experiences at Rice shaped his future.
“I could not have thought of a better place to study climate change and environmental justice than Houston,” said Kim, Rice’s 13th Rhodes Scholar and first since 2015. “I think it was academically very enriching.”
Zoe Griffin, a graduating biosciences major who will be pursuing her doctoral degree at the University of Georgia in the fall, said, “There was no better place than Rice to study natural sciences. The teaching, the classes and just the people in the biosciences department at Rice have been exceptional and have helped me find some really incredible opportunities, especially in research.”
A number of awards were recognized at the commencement.
The Graham C. Stebbings College Service Award, which goes to a student who has significantly contributed to the residential college system at Rice, was given to Essence Ratliff.
The Student Association Outstanding Seniors Awards are given to graduating seniors who have demonstrated service, dedication and character. This year’s award winners were Annie Tian, Brian Bishara, Bryant Polanco, Claire Druffner, Katherine Jeng, Lynn-Chi Nguyen, Sara Davidson, Siddhant Patil, Tom Nitao and Zoe Wang.
The Rice University Service Award, given in memory of Dean Hugh Scott Cameron, recognizes individuals, past and present, who have rendered significant service to the student body. This year’s winners were Anne Wang, Hayley Jue, Kim and Viola Hsia.
The Sallyport Award, given this year to Khoi Nguyen, recognizes an undergraduate or graduate student who shows great promise in carrying forth the mission of the Association of Rice Alumni upon graduation.
After the presentation of bachelor’s degree candidates, tassels were turned and caps soared into the sky. Graduates and their loved ones then raised their voices in unison for Rice’s alma mater as a dazzling display of fireworks lit the night above Rice Stadium. And with that, a new class of Owls took flight — leaving the nest with the knowledge, values and resilience gained at Rice, ready to soar into the future.
“They say that every end has a new beginning — and so to each of you, best wishes on your new beginning and the road ahead,” Gorman said in closing.
Visit the 2025 commencement photo gallery here to download, and share photos from the event using the tag #RiceGrad2025.