{"id":227831,"date":"2026-05-05T15:12:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T19:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=227831"},"modified":"2026-05-20T11:09:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:09:04","slug":"the-students-representing-the-class-of-2026-on-commencement-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2026\/05\/05\/the-students-representing-the-class-of-2026-on-commencement-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"The Students Representing the Class of 2026 on Commencement Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After a year spent amplifying student voices, expanding scholarships and strengthening student support across campus, Student Government Association President Leila Jones and her executive board will share the stage with University dignitaries at 精品成人福利在线 University\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/commencement\/\">Spring 2026 Commencement<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jones will address her classmates at two ceremonies, Monday, May 11 and Tuesday, May 12, at Prudential Center in Newark, drawing on an unconventional path to the podium that she now sees as her greatest strength.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cYou\u2019re not defined by previous versions of yourself, mistakes you\u2019ve made or your major,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can evolve so much by putting yourself in unfamiliar and different spaces.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Leading together<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jones\u2019 impact is deeply connected to the work of the Student Government Association\u2019s executive team. Together, they oversaw the SGA scholarship fund, awarding scholarships totaling $31,500 this spring semester alone, including new funding for students completing unpaid internships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">They also partnered with the Red Hawk Pantry to address food insecurity through food drives, meal vouchers and awareness campaigns. The team also helped cultivate future leaders by moderating a Student Leadership Conference for incoming high school students.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jones will graduate with a degree in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/academics\/programs\/bs-computer-science\/\">Computer Science<\/a> and a minor in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/academics\/programs\/ba-economics\/\">Economics<\/a> and continue at Montclair through the University\u2019s 4+1 program to earn a master\u2019s degree in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/academics\/programs\/ms-cybersecurity\/\">Cybersecurity,<\/a> with long\u2011term plans to pursue a career in patent law.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jones will share the Commencement stage with her fellow executive board members:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Carmela Beitler, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/academics\/programs\/ba-psychology\/\">Psychology<\/a> major with a Social Work minor, helped shape SGA\u2019s scholarship review process and says her leadership experience taught her \u201chow to be a resource for students, when to guide them and how to recognize what they\u2019re capable of.\u201d After graduation, Beitler plans to pursue her Master of Social Work at Rutgers University and one day specialize in school social work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Danny Gonzalez, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/academics\/programs\/ba-theatre-studies\/\">Theatre Studies<\/a> major, co\u2011led initiatives like Know Your Rights, an immigration\u2011resource information board. Gonzalez will earn his degree in August and will continue at Montclair as part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/combined-programs\/\">4+1 program<\/a>, which allows students to earn both a BA and an MA in just five years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Edlyn Eugene, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/academics\/programs\/bs-business-administration\/\">Business Administration<\/a> major concentrating in Marketing, led SGA\u2019s outreach and social media strategy \u2013 boosting student engagement and election turnout and helping plan Senior Sendoff and other senior\u2011week events.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As Jones reflects on remarks she\u2019ll give at Commencement, she keeps returning to the guidance that helped her grow into her role.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Grace through all seasons<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jones credits her mentor, Dean of Students Margaree Coleman-Carter, with grounding her throughout her journey. \u201cI knew I wanted to do more, but I didn\u2019t have that representation growing up and didn\u2019t feel like I had the space to speak,\u201d Jones says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cDean Carter told me, \u2018Have grace through all seasons in your life,\u2019\u201d she adds. \u201cThat stayed with me \u2013 knowing it\u2019s going to be OK, even when it doesn\u2019t feel like it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Outside of SGA, Jones taught yoga at the Student Recreation Center. \u201cEven though Computer Science might not correlate with being in student government, those core values \u2013 discipline and structure \u2013 shaped me as a leader,\u201d she explains. \u201cTeaching yoga taught me how to slow down, be soft and think through every decision that I make.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cNow I feel confident stepping into rooms and finding my voice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>This story is part of a series celebrating 精品成人福利在线 University\u2019s graduates \u2013 students who embody the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/about-montclair\/mission-statement\/\">University\u2019s mission<\/a> to broaden access to exceptional learning opportunities and contribute to the common good.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/\/ Output tags as a list for Google Analytics custom dimension\nwindow.MSU_TagList = [];\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From scholarships to food\u2011insecurity efforts, 精品成人福利在线 University\u2019s SGA team heads into the graduation spotlight after reshaping support for students across campus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":227830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122,313,577,123,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-admissions","category-alumni","category-graduate-spotlights","category-homepage-news","category-science-and-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/434"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227831"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228035,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227831\/revisions\/228035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}