Arianna Huffington, Carol Folt Motivate at Baccalaureate Ceremony

USC’s 2025 commencement festivities commenced in earnest on Wednesday, featuring the annual baccalaureate ceremony at Bovard Auditorium on the University Park Campus.

USC President Carol Folt imparted wise counsel to the students and attendees in the filled auditorium. Folt, who will step down as president on July 1 but remain as a faculty member at USC, acknowledged that she — like the new graduates — is facing a new “next.”

“When the future seems to swirl around, I find serenity in being present in that instant, by accepting my own feelings and chuckling a bit at my own doubt, and especially in being thankful for the multitude of individuals who are experiencing these identical emotions with me,” she remarked. “And naturally, that includes all of you.”

“Throughout my six years as president, I have also witnessed the genuine strength of the Trojan Family, and it truly is a family,” she stated. “We celebrate achievements. We embrace one another with hugs when they are essential. We debate and disagree openly — and then we pivot and provide endless support and encouragement.”

She revealed that this year’s graduating class brings USC to half a million alumni, a milestone achieved by only a select few U.S. institutions.

“Your time as a USC student may be concluding — or perhaps not: Many of you have considerable master’s and PhD pursuits ahead — but the Trojan Family will be by your side eternally,” Folt shared.

The event’s keynote speaker, entrepreneur and wellness advocate Arianna Huffington, addressed the students regarding the potential of artificial intelligence — particularly if we opt to harness it to achieve what truly matters: to aid us in becoming better individuals.

“Up to now, the majority of our advancements have created an environment that monopolizes our attention, that prevents us from living deeply, bombarding us with constant, vibrant, high-volume stimuli that distracts us from pondering life’s significant questions and leading what Dean [Varun] Soni described as ‘heroic lives,’” she expressed, referring to the USC dean of religious life’s invocation address earlier in the program. “It can ensnare us in a never-ending present, hindering us from accessing the wisdom of previous generations or constructing the future we genuinely desire.”

“So please remember, your attention is your most invaluable asset. What you direct your attention towards is what you devote your life to,” Huffington commented. “Thus, as you depart from these magnificent grounds and find your place in the world, insist on a technological landscape that is deserving of you, and accept nothing less.”