December 10, 2025 President Robert W. Iuliano Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
As Delivered.
Greetings and Opening Comments
Welcome families, friends, and fellow Gettysburgians. We are here this evening to celebrate a remarkable group of seniors and all that they have achieved as members of this community.
To our graduates, let me extend to you a warm welcome and a hearty congratulations on this special day in your lives.
We are honored to have 24 graduates walk across the stage tonight.
Students who have authored a Gettysburg story that is uniquely their own; who have dedicated themselves to excellence and experienced the joys of collaboration and hard work; and who have persevered and succeeded in the face of challenges—all to arrive here, at this moment.
Graduates, you have earned this day. We are so proud of you!
Of course, we don’t reach any of life’s milestones alone. It is only through the love and encouragement of those around us that we can fully realize our potential.
In that spirit of gratitude, graduates, if you are able, I’d ask that you please stand and turn to your parents, friends, and loved ones here tonight.
Please join me in offering them our deepest thanks for their support!
Thank you. You may be seated.
Seniors, a few weeks back, I woke up in the dead of night—a bit anxious, I’ll admit—recalling a day’s task still undone.
As a college president and in my prior life as a practicing lawyer, I’ve had my share of these restless nights over the years. Things where the stakes felt high.
On this particular evening, the stakes weren’t high. But they involved something that mattered to me. Something that my wife and I had built over nearly two years. Something that was at risk of slipping away.
So, at three in the morning, I fumbled for my glasses on the nightstand, leapt out of bed, and hustled over to my home computer.
I fired the computer up, logged into The New York Times and my worry proved right: neither my wife nor I had remembered to complete the prior day’s crossword puzzle.
It was a full-blown crossword crisis!
If this sounds ridiculous, it should! But it mattered to us.
You see, the Times keeps track of the number of consecutive days a subscriber has completed the crossword. Anytime we head to the Games page, there the number is, front and center. For my wife Susan and I—and Susan’s here to cheer you all on—on that particular morning, our current streak stood at just under 700 days.
We had a prior long streak going that faltered on the day of my younger son’s wedding, but that’s an entirely different story!
700 days. Nearly two years of effort. Something Susan and I do together most days a week. And, so, now more alert than I should ever have been at 3:00 am, I decide to complete the puzzle. As I entered the last answer, I crossed my fingers hoping against hope that the crossword gods would give us grace.
Well, the crossword gods were smiling on us that early morning. As I entered the last keystrokes, a familiar sound chimed and, more importantly, the counter marking the number of consecutive days advanced by one. The streak was preserved.
Rest assured, the streak remains intact to this day. It’s now up to 720.
As the sun rose that morning and I went about my day—tired, but relieved—I found myself replaying the absurdity of that scene. It felt more like a comedy performed by Prof. [Chris] Kauffman’s talented student ensembles than a president’s real-life pajama panic.
But it also stayed with me, because it reminded me of three life lessons—three life lessons that I hope you will carry with you beyond Gettysburg.
The first is the value of showing up, again and again.
That crossword streak? It wasn’t about solving puzzles. It was about a commitment; one Susan and I made to each other. It was about being present—even when schedules are full and energy is low.
Graduates, you’ve built that habit here at Gettysburg. Whether it was completing that late-night lab report with your classmates, suiting up for practice amid that frigid November air alongside your teammates, or pressing through your final exams—you showed up.
And I promise you, the most meaningful parts of your life—your relationships, your career, your growth—will be built the very same way. By showing up, again and again.
Second, life rarely gives us the answers. You have to find them yourself.
As you leave this campus, many of you will carry unanswered questions—about who you are, what your calling might be, and how you’ll use your talents to serve the world. That’s to be expected.
Life doesn’t unfold like a puzzle with neat black and white boxes. It unfolds one square at a time.
Sometimes you’ll pursue the wrong answer. Sometimes the clue won’t make sense until you’ve solved a few other questions around it. The key is to keep working at it. To press forward, using the best answers you can muster—knowing that clarity comes from doing, from taking action.
So, keep moving forward. Keep asking good questions. Keep finding your answers.
And finally, cherish life’s micro-moments.
The more challenging, end-of-the-week crosswords take us 30 or so minutes to complete. 30 minutes that Susan and I have together. 30 minutes where I’m reminded that she knows way more about contemporary pop culture than I do. 30 minutes where the realities of the day slip away and we get to live in the smaller moments. None of that is trivial.
Graduates, your road ahead will be full of big dreams and big transitions. It will also be difficult. Don’t let the small joys slip through your fingertips: a coffee with a colleague, a walk with your partner, a call home to mom and dad.
Just like your time at Gettysburg, your story will have milestones, yes, but even more so, it will be made of the small, meaningful moments that happen in between.
It’s in these micro-moments that we learn what really matters.
So tonight, as you walk across this stage and into your future, I hope you will remember this: show up, find your answers, and cherish the micro-moments.
That is how you build a good life, a truly consequential life.
Again, on behalf of our entire community, we wish you the very best and look forward to hearing about all the great things you’ll accomplish in the years ahead.
Congratulations!
The Charge
Graduates, I’d ask that you please rise.
At Gettysburg College, we promise every student A Consequential Education. And seeing each of you cross the stage tonight, it is clear just how consequential this experience has been for you.
Reflecting on Professor Kauffman’s powerful message this evening, my charge to you is simply this: Say “yes” to life’s great adventure.
Show up with the knowledge and the confidence that you, indeed, are large. You contain multitudes.
Pay attention to those around you and cherish the moments you share together.
And, in the inspiring words of Professor Kauffman, remember that “All that you are is enough. You will forever be enough.”
Graduates, we believe in you—and we always will.
Now, to conclude our ceremony, I would invite our families, friends, and entire community here this evening to please join me in congratulating our newest Gettysburg College graduates!
Congratulations—and Do Great Work!