Written by Kirby Neumann-Rea. Reprinted with permission of the News-Register. Originally published June 2, 2026.
You can succeed and contribute to the world, Linfield University’s Class of 2026 heard Sunday.
Yes, you can, and you already have.
It happens with the help of AI — actual intelligence, said speaker Gregory Nava, adding a hopeful twist on the modern technological concern. Actual intelligence, Nava said, “is something far more powerful than artificial intelligence.”
A total of 480 diplomas were presented at the ceremony attended by around 3,000 people.
Future paths and steps already taken, and the grounding and confidence to persist when the path is unclear, proved the theme in the 2026 sendoff, from speakers including Nava, a renowned filmmaker, who spoke of the essential finding of “the path with heart.”
Parent Linda Dayton found a path 20 years ago. She was with family members for her son, Charles Dayton, who earned a sports management degree.
“He is my miracle child I adopted when I was 53 and he was one. He needed a mother right that second,” said Dayton, of West Linn. “It’s been a whirlwind to believe how fast the 20 years went. I’ve been very blessed.”
Class speaker Josie Daywitt told her fellow grads, “Linfield didn’t serve as a place to learn. It served as a place to become.
“Today is not just about what we’ve accomplished but what we accomplished together,” Daywitt said. “The friendships, the moments we didn’t know mattered and now are everything.
“We’ve learned how to keep going when things didn’t go as planned. We’ve learned how to stand back up after falling short. We’ve learned how to listen, how to lead, and how to show up for people — not just when it’s easy, but when it matters most.
“And maybe the most important thing we’ve learned … is that growth doesn’t happen when everything is easy,” Daywitt said. “It happens in the moments we felt unsure, overwhelmed, or afraid — and chose to keep going anyway.”
Alumni Leadership Council member McKenna Knapp (’13) told the graduates, “wherever you go next, be bold enough to try, steady enough to keep going, and grounded enough to remember where you started. Stay connected. Show up for each other. And carry this place with you in a way that makes it stronger. Because Linfield changed our lives. And now, you are part of what allows it to change long after today.
“It has called people forward into versions of themselves they hadn’t fully stepped into yet,” Knapp said. “And if you’re honest, there was probably a moment, maybe a big one, maybe a quiet one, when someone here saw something in you and didn’t let you play small. That moment matters. Because it doesn’t stay here. It becomes part of you.”
Board of Trustees chair Lucinda Fournier said, “Wherever your paths lead, you will always remain part of the Linfield community. From this day forward, you carry the mission and values of this institution.”
Linfield’s new president, Mark Blegen, said, “While at Linfield you met challenges you didn’t anticipate, you discovered strengths you didn’t know you had. You adapted, persevered and kept going, even when the path wasn’t clear. That is what today represents: not only completion but transformation.”
In Nava’s vigorous message, he called on graduates to “Find the path with the heart.”
Nava received an Academy Award nomination in 1983 for Best Original Screenplay for “El Norte.” He later earned Golden Globe and MTV Movie Award nominations and four American Latino Media Arts Awards for “Selena,” which he wrote and directed.
Nava’s message entwined the fruits of 1960s activism and that twist on the current concern of AI.
“An example of indigenous wisdom has been an inspiration to me for my whole life and career. They believe in the path of the heart,” Nava said. “That everybody has a unique path to follow in their lives, and how do you find that path? They believe it is set once you make your heart your face.”
Gesturing first to his chest and then to his face, Nava said, “You take what you have within you here and you put it here. Before you make your heart your face, you’re blind. You can’t see other people. You can’t see the world. But the moment you make your heart your face, suddenly you can see. You can see other people and other people can see you, and you can see your path with your heart.”
Nava continued, “Finding your path with the heart isn’t some personal, impractical thing. No, no, no. They believe it is your responsibility to find the path of your heart, that it was essential for you to find your path with the heart because the survival of society depended on this. When you’ve found your path with heart, everyone who would be a healer would heal; and everyone who would be a poet would be a poet; and a warrior would be a warrior; and a farmer could be a farmer. And when everyone finds their path with the heart, they believe society finds its path with the heart and the world is saved. And I believe they were right.
“The world needs people following the path of the heart,” citing challenges such as climate change and divisive domestic politics.
And then he addressed AI.
“Technology is advancing so quickly that our wisdom cannot keep up with it. Young people feel afraid and isolated,” Nava said. “Will there be a place for me and the children I want to have? Will I be replaced by AI? Well, I am here to say, do not be afraid, because you all have AI. You all have actual intelligence. And actual intelligence is far more powerful than artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a tool. But artificial intelligence can never lead, and it can never save the world because it does not have a heart. Yes, I am telling you, you have a great responsibility, and you are wondering, ‘can I do this?’”
He cited the work of activist Delores Huerta, who in the 1960s organized farmworkers in California, people he termed “the most oppressed people in the world,” who at first told her, “No se puede — we cannot do it.”
“Delores told them ‘Si, se puede. Yes, we can.’ And they organized, and they won. The poorest, most downtrodden people won, and it changed the face of America. I was just with Delores, who is 96, and she has been through more hell than you can imagine. But still so full of hope, because hope is contagious.
“I want you to say ‘Si, se puede,’ and say it so all the generations that have built you up can hear you and feel pride in your accomplishments today, and all the future generations who will benefit from all the wisdom, and all the learning, you will bring to the world, so they can hear you as well. Se puede?”
Rising responses of “Si, se puede” followed Nava’s questions:
“Are you all going to go forward and find your path with the heart and not only build a career but build a better world?”
“Are you going to live with compassion as opposed to cynicism?”
“Are you all going to use your talents and wisdom and humanity to heal the world?”
He concluded, saying, “What you are receiving today is the future. And I have to tell you the last few days I have spent a lot of time with many of you, and I now know that our future is in great hands because you are all so wonderful. Congratulations to the class of 2026!”
Nava’s message on hope and AI resonated with Owen Schoner, a finance major from Camarillo, Calif.
“I already had that perspective. I agree with everything he said. I had classes on AI and philosophy at the same time, and our professors debated each other and brought out some great things,” Schoner said.
“I’m a lot more against (artificial intelligence) than most businesspeople would be, but I’m also lenient and not naive enough to think I can’t know about it. I have to learn about it but also need to know how to use it correctly.”
In Blegen’s message, the president told the graduates, “The Linfield experience is at heart about learning by doing, growing by engaging, and discovering what you are capable of when you are challenged, supported and inspired.
“You have earned this moment through years of persistence, curiosity, late nights, early mornings and more than a few unexpected turns along the way.”
To Blegen, the “Linfield experience” was manifested by the Class of 2026 through varied pathways that often overlapped.
Nursing students, for example, “learned to steady your hands and your hearts, and you will now go on to steady the lives of others.”
Athletes learned through teamwork, resilience and achievement, “and how to win with humility and how to grow through setbacks, with determination,” Blegen said.
Scientists “learned how to think critically, how to test ideas, how to contribute something new to the world of knowledge, even as an undergraduate.”
Those in the creative fields such as music, art and theater “remind us that beauty, discipline and courage often arrive together,” he said.
Multiple speakers honored the contribution of parents, faculty and others.
At one point, Blegen asked the graduates to stand “and look around you, at the people who believe in you and supported you every step of the way.”
Blegen called the names of two of those mentors, in announcing emeritus status to physics professor Tianbao Xie and retiring staff member Creative Director Candido Salinas III, in recognition of three decades of service.
“Thank you both for your extraordinary service, leadership and lasting contributions to Linfield and its students,” Blegen said.
Big shoes to fill
Commencement ceremonies vary widely but all have in common one thing: observance and celebration of transition, of steps small or large.
It was the same, but different, evidenced by some unique pageantry on the sun-drenched, breeze-blessed Oak Grove lawn as part of Sunday’s Linfield event.
The day’s array of decorated mortarboards ranged from philosophical to sardonic with variations such as “Let the Light In,” “Busted Mine To Save Yours,” and “New Achievement/Reward: A Funny Hat.”
Everywhere was the tradition of garlands of snack food, greenery, flowers and even inflatable pool toys, to go with whatever academic stoles and cords the graduates received.
Festivities began with the procession of students and then faculty, entering the Oak Grove green between Pioneer Hall and Riley Center.
“And we’re smiling. And we’re smiling,” exhorted Gretchen Bixler as the professors passed. Bixler, new this year as executive assistant to the president and board of trustees, laughed and said, “Some of them are not happy to be in those robes.”
Meanwhile, Mercedes Rose, Linfield’s social media manager, had handed her cell phone to university president Mark Blegen and helped him compose a selfie with a dozen faculty members as they waited for Blegen’s first commencement as president.
“As president, he’s up for anything,” Rose said.
In what might be a new tradition, several families carried enlarged childhood photos of their beloved grads, smiling-face placards held up on long sticks as a way of communicating their whereabouts in the post-ceremony human throng that filled Oak Grove lawn.
“I want to offer a sincere thank you,” Blegen said during his remarks. “The Linfield experience is at heart about learning by doing, growing by engaging, and discovering what you are capable of when you are challenged, supported and inspired.
“In many ways, I have had the privilege of joining you for one chapter in a multi-year story that you have been writing since you first set foot here. And what a story it has been,” said Blegen, who with others focused on the students’ accomplishments and growth as humans.
“My first year serving as president has been memorable in many ways, but none more than the opportunity to spend alongside this graduating class, cheering you on the sidelines, sharing meals, and getting to know Linfield that much better by hearing your experiences. I recognize that, for you, this journey began long before I arrived.”
While the ceremony was the first for Blegen, it was a farewell for the student who wore the Mack the Wildcat mascot suit for the past two years.
Mack, with a new person in the fuzzy brown suit and purple cap, roamed the Oak Grove greeting students, family and faculty. In the front row of the spectator section, a dozen seats read “Reserved for Mack” — the Stephens family of Portland.
Speaking of new traditions, David Stephens was unmasked in the process of setting a new one: he wore his oversized purple shoes to receive his diploma, though Stephens said that’s nothing new for mascots anywhere. What Stephens started Sunday was the presentation of those shoes to the new (and as-yet unidentified) Mack, who underwent training earlier in the year and fully adopted the Big Friendly Wildcat demeanor Stephens had trademarked since 2024. On stage, the two posed for photos as they exchanged shoes, the new Mack bowing before Stephens in his cap and gown
David’s mother and father, Jenna and Bryce Stephens of Portland, brother Eli and aunts and cousins were present. David is a dual major in music and theater.
“We’re excited for him to step into his next phase of life,” Bryce said. In two weeks, David will begin a summer internship in Cooperstown, New York, with the Glimmerglass Festival, working in business development.
Jenna said he tried to keep his identity secret, “but he kept it on the down-low.” Stephens said he agreed to take on the role “with about 50 people around,” so while his identity was known to some, “we worked hard to keep it a secret.”
He described an encounter in a common area last year:
“Mack has his own special socks, but I got to the football game late one week and I kept my own socks on, a blue and zig-zag kind of print, and later I was in the dorm and someone came up and said, ‘You’re Mack. You can’t tell me I’m wrong. I remember those socks.’”
Stephens was the first paid Mack, and the first to have designated handlers and his own space at Memorial Hall in the Maxwell Field complex. But Stephens stressed the goal of taking Mack “outside of just athletics.” It did feel this year that Mack, silent but enthusiastic, was everywhere.
“I loved that job every day. It’s such a joy when I’m Mack,” Stephens said. “I don’t have to be smiling but I’m always beaming under that face.”
