05/05/2026
SUNY Cortland’s seniors and graduate students will advance to the next stage in their lives during Commencement weekend in Park Center Alumni Arena.
The university’s graduate Commencement ceremony will take place Friday, May 15. Three undergraduate Commencement ceremonies will be held Saturday, May 16.
The graduate ceremony starts at 7 p.m. on Friday. The undergraduate ceremonies will begin at 9:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday. A reception immediately following the graduate ceremony will take place in Park Center Corey Gymnasium.
A total of 1,531 seniors applied to graduate during the 2025-26 academic year and most of them plan to don cap and gown to receive bachelor’s degrees during the three undergraduate ceremonies. More than 5,000 of their guests are anticipated.
The university also will award 384 master’s degrees and 37 Certificates of Advanced Study.
“All of our students have worked hard to achieve this goal, and we are extremely proud of them,” said SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum, who has served as the university’s president since 2003. “We know they will go on to accomplish great things in their lives as they build on the foundation they created at SUNY Cortland.”
This year, the 10 most popular majors among graduates are:
- physical education (223)
- early childhood and childhood education (182)
- exercise science (141)
- business economics (128)
- sport management (118)
- psychology (98)
- inclusive childhood education (69)
- criminology (57)
- communication studies (50)
- social studies (41)
This year’s undergraduate Commencement speakers are Stacey Bohne Hengsterman ’93, president and chief executive officer of Special Olympics New York and a recipient of this year’s SUNY honorary doctor of humane letters, at Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony A; Greg Sankey ’87, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and a recipient of this year’s SUNY honorary doctor of humane letters, at Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony B; and Peter McGinnis, a SUNY distinguished service professor in SUNY Cortland’s Kinesiology Department, who has long been considered an authoritative voice on the biomechanics of pole vaulting, at Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony C.
Juan Carlos “J.C.” Polanco, of Bronx, N.Y., who will graduate with a Master of Arts in History, will deliver the Graduate Commencement speech.
Offering student remarks at Undergraduate Commencement ceremonies will be Parker Arenas of Brewster, N.Y., the 2025-26 president of the university’s Student Government Association (SGA) and a criminology major minoring in forensic psychology and communication studies.
SUNY Cortland has graduated more than 90,000 students, and this year’s class will join the ranks of alumni who reside in all 50 states, three U.S. territories and 55 other countries. Flossie Bell Lomax ’86, M ’90, C.A.S. ’96, Ed.D., president of the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association, will address the university’s newest alumni after all Commencement ceremonies.
More information about each speaker is provided below.
Stacey Bohne Hengsterman ’93
A trusted advocate for people with disabilities, Hengsterman has directed one of the largest and most prominent Special Olympics organizations in the world since 2018. Special Olympics New York has earned the highest rankings from both Charity Navigator and Candid. Hengsterman was named to the 2021 Upstate Power 100 list by City & State and was one of 30 recipients to receive the 2020 City & State Above and Beyond Award, which recognizes women leaders in New York. Prior to her current role, she held various senior leadership positions with SUNY System Administration, serving as assistant vice chancellor for government relations from 2000 to 2015 before rising to the system’s chief of staff. For nearly two decades, she helped inform state higher education policy as a top advisor to the SUNY chancellor, the Board of Trustees and the leadership at its 64 public campuses. The SUNY Cortland Alumni Association presented her with its 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award.
Greg Sankey ’87
Sankey has earned a reputation as a visionary in college athletics for guiding the NCAA’s most successful Division I conference. A native of nearby Auburn, N.Y., the former physical education major has strengthened the conference’s visibility and reputation — introducing a historic broadcast rights deal in 2020 and expanding conference membership from 14 to 16 institutions, including some of the most respected universities in the nation. The SEC has captured 66 national championships since Sankey’s tenure as commissioner began in 2015. Nationally, he has helped navigate turbulent and changing times for Division I institutions, from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic to the questions surrounding name, image and likeness benefits for student-athletes. In 2021, he was named co-chair of the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee, a group tasked with leading efforts to reimagine the future of college sports. He also has served on several of the NCAA’s most important committees addressing academic performance and governance.
Peter McGinnis
McGinnis, who joined SUNY Cortland in 1990 and retires in August as SUNY distinguished service professor emeritus of kinesiology and the pole vault coach for the university’s track and field teams, is an internationally respected scholar who has worked extensively with U.S.A. Track and Field and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Local and Olympic pole vaulters have depended on his analysis since the early 1980s. So have organizations such as the American Society for Testing and Materials and legal representatives requiring expert testimony in pole vault accident litigations. In 2012, the U.S.A. Track and Field awarded him the Harmon Brown Sports Medicine and Science Award. In 2013, McGinnis was promoted by SUNY to distinguished service professor in recognition of his extraordinary service on campus and in the community and systemwide levels. His scholarship includes the highly regarded book, Biomechanics of Sport and Exercise, plus numerous peer-reviewed articles and technical reports. He has chaired committees responsible for establishing important safety standards in the sport.
Juan Carlos “J.C.” Polanco M ’26
Polanco has risen from being the child of Dominican immigrants to his most recent project as podcast host for “Centered with J.C. Polanco,” getting some of the biggest names in New York City politics. An attorney, educator and public affairs commentator with a career spanning higher education, law, government and nonprofit leadership, Polanco currently serves as an assistant professor at the University of Mount Saint Vincent School of Business and adjunct assistant professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY). He was president and Bronx commissioner of the New York City Board of Elections. As president and CEO of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO), he led one of the nation’s leading pipeline organizations dedicated to expanding access to legal education. A frequent political and legal analyst who appears on news outlets, Polanco provides commentary on law, government and public affairs. He earned his Juris Doctor and M.B.A. from Fordham University and his Bachelor of Arts from the University at Albany.
Parker Arenas ’26
A former transfer student, Arenas has served SUNY Cortland’s student government in several capacities: previously as its secretary and chief financial officer before being elected president for the 2025-26 academic year. He earned a reputation on campus for committing to the needs and interests of his peers. Arenas also worked as an Orientation assistant across multiple summers and a COR 101 facilitator, becoming a trusted source of knowledge for new students. A criminology major, he served as a research assistant in the Sociology/Anthropology Department and also pursued an internship with the City of Cortland Police Department.
Details on all 2026 Commencement ceremonies, including links to live video streams of the events, are available on SUNY Cortland’s Commencement website.