Bobby Wagner highlights Utah State commencement ceremony
Utah State University’s commencement ceremony for the class of 2026 took place Wednesday night in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, highlighting the graduating class from each college. The event was headlined by USU alumnus Bobby Wagner, who was the featured commencement speaker.
The evening started with the academic procession of the graduating class, starting on the Quad and heading through campus to the Spectrum. After the national anthem and a musical number featuring the USU Scotsmen Pipe and Drum Corps, the USU Chamber Singers and the University Chorale, President Brad L. Mortensen addressed the attendees.
After brief remarks, Mortensen turned to Provost and Executive Vice President Laurens H. Smith, who presented the valedictorians for each college.
Smith described the valedictorians as those exhibiting “exceptional academic achievement demonstrated through consistent high performance, intellectual curiosity, integrity and leadership.”
The valedictorians presented were Alexis Lupus, Lorenzo High, Jacey Hopkin, Chris Davis and Avery Truman, who represented the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Engineering, Emma Eccles College of Education & Human Services, Jon M. Huntsman School of Business and S.J. & Jessies E. Quinney College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, respectively.
After another musical selection by the USU Chamber Singers and the University Chorale, Davis, the university valedictorian, addressed the graduates.
Davis spoke on staying true to oneself and leaning into the traits that make each person unique.
“Utah State graduates have gone on to perform at Carnegie Hall and found Crumbl. They work at the White House and out of a fighter jet cockpit. They contribute the country to NASA, compete in the NFL, but also continue multi-generational family farms,” Davis said. “They didn’t get there by becoming someone else. They got there by becoming more fully themselves.”
Following Davis’s remarks, Mortensen presented honorary doctorate degrees to USU alumni Ara Serjoie, Joyce Albrecht, Stan Albrecht, and Bobby Wagner.
“Each year, our Board of Trustees recognizes individuals who represent the very best of what it means to be an Aggie,” Mortensen said. “Today, we will recognize several individuals with honorary degrees.”
A brief video was played for each degree recipient, followed by the doctoral hooding and presentation of the degree from Mortensen. The final recipient, Wagner, then addressed the audience.
Wagner attended Utah State from 2008 to 2011, where he earned first-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors three times, was named the WAC Defensive Player of the Year his senior season and finished his Aggie career tied for the school record with 446 tackles.
Wagner was then drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of the NFL Draft and has put together an accolade-filled 14-year professional career in the NFL. Wagner has been to 10 Pro Bowl Games, with six NFL All-Pro selections, while helping the Seahawks to a 2014 Super Bowl victory, the first in franchise history.
Wagner was also named the 2025 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, given to a player to honor their commitment to community impact.
Wagner opened his remarks by recounting the tale of his Utah State visit, where the California native encountered snow for the first time and nearly didn’t come to USU. His mother, Phenia Wagner, helped him in his decision as Utah State was the only school to offer him a scholarship.
“She told me that I either accept the scholarship or I wasn’t coming back home,” Wagner said. “One of the things that that taught me was sometimes the place that you least expect to be is exactly the place you were exactly supposed to be.”
Wagner spoke briefly of his journey from Logan to the NFL, and how contracting pneumonia on the day of the NFL Combine almost led to the end of his pro career before it got started. Wagner traveled separately to upwards of 15 teams for workouts before the Seahawks selected him in the draft.
Wagner ended by encouraging the new graduates to network frequently, citing networking as one of the reasons he’s advanced his personal career outside of the NFL.
“You have a group of people in this Aggie family that wants to see you win and wants to see you successful in any field. We have all fields, from business to science to everything, doctor. There’s so many people that want to connect,” Wagner said. “You never know who’s going to answer the door. You never know who’s going to help you, and I truly believe that the Aggie alumni and this Aggie family is something beautiful that we should appreciate and we should really take into account, because they want to see you win.”
Wagner also thanked those at the university for taking a chance on him, as well as his friends and family for their support in his career.
Following Wagner, Mortensen addressed the graduates, recounting his own Utah State graduation in 1995. Mortensen’s primary message surrounded the parable of the monkey and the pedestal. In the parable, a worker is assigned the task of teaching a monkey to stand one-legged on a pedestal while juggling flaming torches. The worker spends the majority of his time building a pedestal, rather than teaching the monkey the tasks.
“We avoid the monkey because that’s vulnerable, but if you spend years on this beautiful, safe pedestal and find out that your monkey is afraid of fire, you haven’t just failed, you’ve wasted your most precious resource: your time,” Mortensen said. “Find the item that scares you the most, then don’t go to the hardware store for wood. … Take the risk, unblock the amazing potential that you have curated as a graduate of Utah State University, tackle the monkey first.”
Mortensen was followed by the conferring of degrees by Smith, followed by the Alma Mater Hymn and the Scotsman, before the recessional closed the ceremony as the graduates left the building.
In all, Utah State University awarded 7,101 degrees to over 6,000 students across the Logan and Statewide campuses in 2026. Individual college convocations are held on Thursday and Friday on campus.