Bachelor’s degrees went out to 142 students at Penn State Brandywine’s spring 2026 commencement ceremony, with five other students earning associate degrees, writes Bill Tyson for Penn State Brandywine.
Regional Chancellor Marilyn J. Wells presided over the ceremony, telling graduates they had grown into changemakers prepared to make their mark on the world.
“Today is more than a ceremony — it is a moment suspended in time,” Wells said. “A moment when we pause to honor the incredible journey each of you and your families has taken to arrive right here, right now.”
Wells reminded graduates that they had arrived full of anticipation, uncertainty, and dreams — some shared openly, others held quietly — and that living Penn State’s core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, discovery, excellence, and community had shaped them into the graduates they had become.
Three Student Voices
Three graduating students addressed their peers during the ceremony.
Shiline Varpilah, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Business and served as both a resident assistant and co-president of Scripture Seekers, delivered welcoming remarks. She offered her classmates a measured reflection on what growth actually looks like up close.
“One of the biggest lessons of my time here is that growth doesn’t always look dramatic,” Varpilah said. “Sometimes it looks like saying ‘yes’ to something you would have once said ‘no’ to. Sometimes it looks like learning to trust yourself more.”
Catherine Adewumi, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, brought a perspective shaped by a distinctly nontraditional path. After immigrating to the United States from Nigeria as a teenager, she first earned an associate degree in psychology at Delaware County Community College before transferring to Penn State Brandywine.
“My time at Brandywine has been unique because of my non-traditional path, but I deeply appreciate the intimate campus feel and the meaningful relationships I built with professors and peers,” Adewumi said. She urged her fellow graduates to recognize the lasting value of everything they had gained — in and out of the classroom. “The skills, conversations, ideas, relationships, and perspectives gained through each interaction do not disappear. They form a personalized kind of power.”
Ava Clements, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, described a transformation that felt personal. A Cooper Honors Scholar, contributor to the Lion’s Eye student newspaper, member of the Academic Integrity Board, and student employee in the campus strategic communications department, Clements told the audience that Brandywine had given her something she hadn’t expected.
“For me, Brandywine became more than just a place to earn a degree. It became a place where I found my voice,” she said. “Somewhere along the way, this campus that once felt unfamiliar became a place I’m genuinely proud to call home.”
Academic Honors
Following the commencement addresses, Wells and Chief Academic Officer Jennifer Nesbitt conferred degrees and recognized students who graduated in the top 12 percent of their class within their respective colleges.
Graduating magna cum laude were Catherine Adewumi, Ian Sheng Lim, Emily McDermott, Ivan Morhun, and Jonathan Parsons. Graduating cum laude were Ava Clements, Susanna Immanuel, Eve Koutsenko, Lexie McCullough, Udhay Prakash Mohankumar, and Hideki Shie.
Shirley Yang, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology, was recognized as a Schreyer Honors Scholar. Clements was recognized as a Cooper Honors Scholar.
Joseph Kernen, president of the Penn State Brandywine Advisory Board, offered congratulations to the graduating class. Jemimah Mwaba, a 2021 Penn State graduate who attended Brandywine, performed the National Anthem and the Penn State Alma Mater.
Penn State Brandywine, located in Media, enrolls more than 1,100 students and offers 14 baccalaureate degree programs as well as the first two years of nearly all of Penn State’s more than 275 majors.
