CSUN’s first 2026 commencement ceremony for the Andrew J. Anagnost College of Engineering and Computer Science and the College of Science and Mathematics on Friday, May 15, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Graduates enter for the first CSUN college commencement ceremony of 2026, for the Andrew J. Anagnost College of Engineering and Computer Science and the College of Science and Mathematics on Friday, May 15, 2026. (Jill Connelly / CSUN)
Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost ’87 speaks at the first CSUN commencement ceremony of 2026, for the Andrew J. Anagnost College of Engineering and Computer Science and the College of Science and Mathematics on Friday, May 15, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
The Andrew J. Anagnost College of Engineering and Computer Science and College of Science and Mathematics were the first colleges to hold a 2026 commencement ceremony at California State University, Northridge on, Friday, May 15, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
A new graduate of the CSUN David Nazarian College of Business and Economics celebrates with family on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Graduates of the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics celebrate CSUN’s second 2026 commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Students, their friends and families showed up in force to celebrate Honors Convocation on Saturday, May 9, 2026 on the University Library Lawn. (Blake Fagen / CSUN)
CSUN David Nazarian College of Business and Economics graduate Justice Stewart crosses the commencement stage holding his United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association belt on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Graduates throw their caps at the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics commencement ceremony on the CSUN University Library Lawn on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Graduates toss their diploma covers and celebrate together at the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences I commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
A graduate shares a celebratory fist bump during the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences I commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Rows of graduates flash smiles and peace signs as they celebrate at the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences I commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
CSUN volleyball player Jordan Lucas is all smiles as he joins the procession as the celebration gets underway at the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences I commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
In a sea of celebrating Matadors, one graduate stands tall and smiles at the Michael D. Eisner College of Education commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Caps fly sky high as graduates celebrate at the Michael D. Eisner College of Education commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
With a future graduate joining the fun, graduates share big smiles at the Michael D. Eisner College of Education commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Diploma cover held high, a graduate beams with joy at the Michael D. Eisner College of Education commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Nationally recognized peacemaker and community safety advocate Aqeela Sherrills addresses the graduates of CSUN’s College of Health and Human Development. Sherrills was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during the Commencement ceremony on May 18, 2026. (Luis Luque / CSUN)
A graduate shows off their Matador pride with a mortarboard — featuring a miniature of the iconic “CSUN” sculpture — at the Commencement ceremony for the College of Health and Human Development, on May 18, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
A brand-new CSUN graduate celebrates as he crosses the Commencement stage, at the ceremony for the College of Health and Human Development, on May 18, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
All set! Students at the ceremony for the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication on Monday, May 18, 2026 (Richard Chambers / CSUN)
Doug Emhoff stands on the commencement stage with CSUN President Erika D. Beck. Beck presented Emhoff with a plaque commemorating his appearance at Honors Convocation, 2026. (Blake Fagan / CSUN)
CSUN graduates celebrate before the Commencement ceremony for the College of Health and Human Development, on May 18, 2026. (Luis Luque / CSUN)
Pride and joy! Friends and family show the love for their graduating Matadors at the commencement ceremony for the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication on Monday, May 18, 2026. (Jill Connelly / CSUN)
Congratulations to our Parent Scholars! The campus resource dedicated to supporting parent students held a graduation event on April 25, 2026 in the Orchard Conference Center. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
A graduate at the commencement ceremony for the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication shows their creative side— and pays homage to David Bowie. (Jill Connelly / CSUN)
Marine Barsegyan, the 2026 Wolfson Scholar, on stage at Honors Convocation. (Jill Connelly / CSUN)
A brand-new CSUN graduate celebrates at the Commencement ceremony for the College of Humanities and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, on May 17, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Family members and loved ones cheer on their graduates at the Commencement ceremony for the College of Humanities and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, on May 17, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
CSUN graduates celebrate at the Commencement ceremony for the College of Humanities and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, on May 17, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
A brand-new CSUN graduate celebrates at the Commencement ceremony for the College of Humanities and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, on May 17, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
A proud graduate takes in the moment alongside fellow Matadors at Black Graduation on Friday, May 15, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
The CSUN Sapphics Club received a Stonewall Spirit Award at the 2026 Rainbow Graduation on May 15, 2026. (Bryan Rodgers / CSUN)
Smiles, cheers and a wave capture the joy of the day at Black Graduation on Friday, May 15, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
A graduate smiles as a loved one helps him get ready for the celebration at Black Graduation on Friday, May 15, 2026. (Ringo Chiu / CSUN)
Veterans and new graduates celebrate at the CSUN Veterans Graduation, May 2, 2026, at the Northridge Center in the University Student Union. (Blake Fagan / CSUN)
A veteran and new graduate celebrates with family at the CSUN Veterans Graduation, May 2, 2026, at the Northridge Center in the University Student Union. (Blake Fagan / CSUN)
A veteran and new graduate celebrates with loved ones at the CSUN Veterans Graduation, May 2, 2026, at the Northridge Center in the University Student Union. (Blake Fagan / CSUN)
Veteran Ashley Taylor celebrates the completion of her master’s degree with loved ones, at the CSUN Veterans Graduation, May 2, 2026, at the Northridge Center in the University Student Union. (Blake Fagan / CSUN)
Joy, celebration and plenty of Matador pride filled the campus over commencement weekend. From May 15 through 18, CSUN hosted seven ceremonies honoring graduates from its eight colleges, as families and friends packed the stands on the University Library Lawn to cheer on the Class of 2026.
More than 11,000 students were eligible to participate — each ceremony highlighting the culmination of years of determination, resilience and achievement.
The students, wearing their black graduation robes, many with colorful sashes and decorated mortarboards, processed to their seats. As their families and friends looked on, CSUN President Erika D. Beck, as is her custom, welcomed them to their ceremony, wearing her sparkly red Converse tennis shoes, or “Commencement Chucks,” with her academic regalia.
“Graduates, the degree that you earned today affirms the knowledge and skills that you have attained so far. What it cannot fully capture is the person you have become in the process of earning it, nor can it anticipate the ways you will continue to evolve in the years ahead,” Beck said. “Because you didn’t just earn a degree. You became someone ready to step into the world with strength, with purpose, and with the power to leave it softer, kinder, and more equitable than it was before you arrived.”
President Beck also honored the transformative role of CSUN’s world class faculty in the graduates’ journey to the commencement stage. “You know the ones I mean,” she said. “The educators who cared enough to challenge you, who said not only ‘you’re doing well’ but also, ‘here’s where you still have room to expand.’ That’s the space where learning happens.”
On May 15, at the first commencement ceremony of the season, alumnus Andrew Anagnost ’87 (Mechanical Engineering), Hon.D. ’24, president and CEO of Autodesk, one of the world’s leading design and make technology companies, addressed the graduates of his namesake institution on campus, the Andrew J. Anagnost College of Engineering and Computer Science along with graduates of the College of Science and Mathematics. He delighted the crowd with a funny and, at times, irreverent speech about relationships and interactions made during the course of his career, along with accompanying advice:
“Here is something that I know to be true about all of you. You have more grit than most, and you need to use it,” Anagnost said. “Your difference is your superpower and you need to leverage it. And you have a path to impact. And all of you need to follow it.”
At the end of his address, Anagnost came down from the commencement stage and danced into the crowd of graduates, urging them to join him in the celebration as the triumphant song “This is Me” from the film “The Greatest Showman” played over the speakers.
Prior to the ceremony, mathematics major Tigran Frunze Pogosyan waited in his designated department line behind the stands. Pogosyan was ready to proceed — not just to his seat in front of the commencement stage, but also to the next step in his path toward becoming a teacher. His plans included more education, applying to CSUN’s Accelerated Collaborative Teacher Residency (ACT) program.
“I’ve already applied. I just need to see if I’m going to be accepted… [after that] then I’ll try and get a master’s and then I’ll start becoming a high school teacher,” he said.
On Monday, May 18, during the sixth graduation ceremony for graduates of the College of Health and Human Development, President Beck and Trustee Raji Brar, Vice Chair of the CSU Board of Trustees, conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters upon Aqeela Sherrills, an internationally respected leader in community-based public safety whose work over more than three decades has transformed approaches to violence prevention, healing and justice.
In 1992, Sherrills helped broker a historic peace treaty between the Bloods and the Crips in Los Angeles, an act of courage that changed the trajectory of an entire city and became a model for community-led conflict resolution across the nation and around the world.
Sherrills attended CSUN in the late 1980s, a time when gang wars and violence were tearing apart his community. He said he gained much more than an education while taking classes.
“[CSUN] gave me distance from the chaos, space to think differently about my future, and the belief that my life could have purpose beyond the pain that I came from,” Sherrills said. “That experience helped shape my commitment to peace, to healing, and to creating safer communities for others. I accept this honor, not just for myself, but for the people and communities that shaped me.”
This year’s eligible graduates included more than 9,000 undergraduates, 2,000 master’s degree candidates and 80-plus doctoral candidates.
Be sure to check out CSUN Newsroom for more stories about this year’s class and end-of-the-year activities.
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