At a moment of unprecedented challenges in public service, speakers at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs’ graduate hooding and awards ceremony and undergraduate Class Day were unequivocal in their advocacy for the field.

“Public service, embodied by every graduate here today, is a commitment – to seeing every member of our society's humanity as sacred,” said Katie Deal, co-chair of the Princeton University Policy Student Government. “It’s a commitment to building institutions that honor human dignity and restore faith in the promise of the public good.”

Deal was one of 68 Master in Public Affairs graduates; together, they comprised the 75th anniversary cohort of the program. The Class of 2025 also included 24 Master in Public Policy graduates. All were celebrated Monday morning in McCarter Theatre.

Dylan Gates, Dean’s PUPSG co-chair, called attention to the tumultuous situation in Washington, D.C., highlighting its link to the class’s job prospects.

“Of great relevance to today’s graduates are the president’s attacks on public servants,” Gates said. “The administration has characterized federal workers as ‘crooked,’ ‘lazy,’ and as being a part of some still-to-be-identified ‘deep state.’ While it’s easy to characterize people removed from our lives as the enemy, it’s much harder to do that up close.”

In her remarks, Princeton SPIA Dean Amaney Jamal struck a personal note, observing that two new grandchildren joined her family this spring and urging the graduates to safeguard children the world over as they proceed along their career paths.

“There’s nothing more humbling and touching than to look into the eyes of an innocent newborn and ask yourself, what type of life will they lead?” Jamal said in a voice filled with emotion. “What type of world will they inherit? Will their rights as children be protected? Our news headlines today are replete with stories about the increasing numbers of children as victims of war, poverty, and displacement. In this country, 15 percent of children live in poverty. Children are being separated from their parents. And around the world, children are increasingly the victims of war. Whether at a musical festival in Israel, a school in Ukraine, or in displacement tents in Gaza, to cite but three recent examples, children have the right to live. Indeed, it is our obligation to protect these innocents. And my challenge to you is to use your Princeton SPIA education to be the generation that continues to defend and uphold our civilizational norms, grounded in humanity for all.”

The graduating class included three recipients of joint MPA/J.D. degrees and one recipient of a joint MPA/MBA. Three served in the Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative. Thirty-two supplemented their degrees with a certificate in health and public policy, urban policy, or science, technology, and environmental policy.

The graduate award winners were:

• Bradford Prize, awarded to the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy student who has achieved both a distinguished academic record and a record of service to the STEP program: Fatima Mumtaz
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership and Service Award, which recognizes exemplary student leadership, initiative, and advocacy for DEI issues at SPIA: Diana Chavez-Varela and Laurel “Elle” Cooke
• Somers Prize, awarded to a student with domestic policy interests who has a distinguished academic and public service record: Svyatoslav Karnasevych and Keiana West
• MPP Prize, awarded to the MPP student who has achieved an outstanding academic record and demonstrated a commitment to public service: Matt Peterson
• Stokes Prize, which recognizes both academic achievement and public service leadership, and is awarded to the graduating MPA student whose achievements best exemplify the life and work of the late Donald E. Stokes, dean of the School from 1974 until 1992: Rachel Morrow

As has become a tradition at the ceremony, many of the graduates who are parents were accompanied by their children as they walked across the stage to be hooded. They included MPA graduate Ji Eun Kim and MPP graduate Gituku Ngene, who had babies while in their respective programs. In many cases, Jamal invited the kids to help place the hoods over their parents’ heads.

In his closing remarks, Steven Petric, the School’s assistant dean for global outreach, admissions, and alumni engagement, called on the graduates to serve as uniters in a deeply divided society.

"There are so many complex, consequential policy challenges to solve,” Petric said. “My hope is that each of you will look for common ground, build bridges, use the power of persuasion and what you learned at Princeton, and work for ways forward that bring as many people along as possible.”

The scene shifted to Richardson Auditorium in the afternoon for the School’s Class Day ceremony, where 118 bachelor’s degree recipients were celebrated. While the graduate students were dressed in caps and gowns, the undergraduates’ class jackets formed a sea of orange and black.

During Jamal's remarks, several moments prompted applause from the audience. As she acknowledged the challenge facing students who planned on U.S. government service and said, "We hope the federal government will be more welcoming in the future," she was interrupted by applause. Similarly, Jamal drew clapping and cheers when she said, "As long as there is injustice in the world, your class must raise your voices in support of justice."

Noting the Class of 2025’s resilience in the face of such circumstances as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Israeli-Hamas war, and the new administration’s disavowal of public service, Jamal was sanguine about the months and years ahead.

“Class of 2025, you give me hope,” she said. “In this time of great uncertainty, your dedication to service and your desire to effect positive change are reasons for optimism. These are the things that will see us through the current moment and into a brighter, more just future. As my favorite poet, Khalil Gibran, reminds us: ‘A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.’”

Student speaker Sophie Pye, whose arrival at Princeton as a first-year student four years ago marked her first time in the United States, expressed gratitude for the opportunities she and her classmates received.

"At some point, someone gave us a chance,” Pye said. “Someone opened a door for us, and we had the courage to walk through it. We must remember that this incredible education we’ve had was not available to everyone. So, wherever we land, in whichever field, we must work to create opportunities for others and space to lift them up. We must use our degree not only to speak, but to listen; not only to lead, but to lift.”

Before announcing this year's award winners, Susan L. Marquis, a Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor and lecturer and the undergraduate faculty chair, asked the audience to take a moment to recognize that the ceremony was taking place on Memorial Day.

"On this Memorial Day, let's remember loved ones, many in this room, who gave all for the union, for democracy, and to defend the people and values of the United States of America, so thank you for that," she said to widespread applause.

The award winners were:

• Richard H. Ullman Prize, awarded to the seniors who write the best thesis on a subject with foreign policy implications for the United States: Sam Chiang and Fiona Galvis
• Lieutenant John A. Larkin Memorial Prize, awarded to the senior who writes the best thesis in the field of political economy or on a broadly interdisciplinary subject in which economics plays the most important part: Lina Singh
• School of Public and International Affairs Thesis Prize, awarded to the seniors who write the best thesis on racial justice: Lexi Madsen and Noah James
• Myron T. Herrick Prize, awarded to the writer of the best senior thesis in the School of Public and International Affairs: Vincent Jiang
• Gale F. Johnston Prize in Public Affairs, awarded to a senior who has demonstrated scholarly growth and leadership combined with excellence in work: Cassandra Eng
• Class of 1924 Award, awarded to a senior whose contribution to a Policy Seminar has been judged most outstanding: Anna Johns
• Donald E. Stokes Dean’s Prize, awarded to a senior who has displayed extraordinary leadership and made the most significant contribution to the undergraduate program and to the School of Public and International Affairs: Audrey Chau