Governor Moore Delivers Frostburg State University Commencement Address

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ANNAPOLIS, MD — Governor Wes Moore today delivered the commencement address to the Frostburg State University Class of 2026, challenging the graduating “Bobcats” to make a lifelong commitment to service. Drawing on the community’s heroic response to last year's devastating Western Maryland floods, the governor urged graduates to continue showing up for others without hesitation.

The following is Governor Moore’s remarks as prepared:

Thank you, Ava Breighner, for that introduction and for inviting me.

You just heard from two of your own classmates, Saylor Miller and Mariah Tewell.

Saylor studied engineering.

She took a team to the national quarter-finals of a Lockheed Martin ethics competition.

Mariah is an Army veteran. And now she serves as an EMT and volunteers with the fire department in Little Orleans. Let's hear it for both of them!

Dr. Smith and Dr. Robinson

Former Senator Don Fry.

Members of the Board of Regents.

Faculty, family, friends and special guests.

Let’s give it up for the Frostburg State University Class of 2026! 

I look out on this crowd, and I see students who have spent years preparing for their next steps.

We have graduates from the College of Business, Engineering, Computing and Analytics. 

They’ve been preparing to help us explore new frontiers of science and technology.

We have graduates from the College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences.

They’ve been preparing to tackle the complex challenges that shape society.

You spent countless hours in the Lewis J. Ort Library. 

Many of you were the first in your family to go to college.

Many of you juggled a job on top of classes.

Some of you have not just your parents, but your children here in the audience to celebrate you.

Today is the sum of every late night, of every early morning, of every moment you could have quit and wanted to quit – but chose not to.

All of you will have different stories. 

But the one thing I can guarantee is this: 

Challenges await you. 

You won’t be able to predict many of them. You will have moments that define you, that you couldn't anticipate.

In trying times, be someone that people can count on.

Anyone can show off to people. Bobcats show up for people.

I know you can.

I know you will.

I know you have before.

Last year, on May 13, Western Maryland was hit hard by a storm.

Five inches of rain fell in a single hour.

Georges Creek, the same creek that runs down the valley this campus sits at the head of, came over its banks in minutes.

Not far from here, in the town of Westernport, water rose in an elementary school.

Children were still learning inside.

It took 15 trips by boat to carry 200 students and staff to safety.

Two days later, I went to Westernport.

Mayor Judy Hamilton was with me the entire time.

We walked down Main Street.

We saw a gutted library.

We saw her neighbors shoveling mud off their own front porches.

Now, Mayor Judy and I happen to belong to different political parties.

But that never mattered.

What matters is that we are both Marylanders.

When any of our people are in trouble, we show up.

Your party affiliation does not matter.

Your county does not matter.

If you are a Marylander, you are good.

This year, I am proud that the State of Maryland is providing $12 million for the flood recovery in Allegany County.

And that includes one million dollars to rebuild the Westernport library. 

And I want to say something to anyone who calls Western Maryland home:

We have your back today.

We have your back tomorrow.

We have your back always.

Ordinary people do extraordinary things.

That’s the story of Western Maryland.

That’s the legacy of the Class of 2026.  

Never stop showing up for people, even when you're not expected to.

Do not wait to be asked.

If you do not act, who will?

I’ve learned a little bit about Christian Santos and Kyle Ganson.

Christian graduates today with a degree in accounting, with honors.

Kyle ran public relations for your student government while he studied communications.

And he mentored children through an afterschool program with AmeriCorps.

On the night of the flood, Christian and Kyle heard some students at Mountain Ridge High School could not get back to Westernport. 

Their parents couldn't get to them.

Their buses couldn't get them home.

They had to sleep overnight in their school.

Christian and Kyle showed up at the Lane University Center.

They loaded trucks with pillows, blankets, and basic necessities. 

Nobody assigned that task to Christian and Kyle.

They did not do it for extra credit. 

They went because they knew they had the capacity to help students not much younger than them.

And they did.

Christian and Kyle, thank you for showing up for this community.

The second reason you will keep showing up for people is to leave no one behind.

It’s the motto I learned when I joined the U.S. Army at age 17. 

I was so young, my mom had to sign the paperwork.

But after my teenage years, she would sign whatever paper I put in front of her.

In the wake of the flood, Westernport Elementary had a problem.

They had nowhere to finish their school year.

And that’s when Frostburg State stepped in.

Elementary school students finished their year on this campus.

Dr. Smith called those students “Future Bobcats.”

And this campus and this class rallied behind them.

Cooks ran the dining hall.

Coaches opened the gyms.

Two of your classmates, Devann Cowden and Rebecca West, walked across this stage earlier today.

And Devann and Rebecca spent weeks planning the lessons and activities for Future Bobcats.

They helped those children know they belonged here.

That is what it looks like to leave no one behind.

Finally, keep showing up for people you will never meet.

Sarah Sunday and Armenta Farmer, where are you?

Sarah, I heard you’re graduating summa cum laude with a degree in business.

And I know you wrestled for the Bobcats.

Armenta, I know you studied cybersecurity.

And you served as a Resident Assistant and are a member of the Black Student Alliance.

When the flood hit, the two of you knew families lost everything.

So you brought together the National Residence Hall Honorary Bobcat Chapter.

You put together hundreds of hygiene kits.

And you got them to families you never met.

Now: here is what I want everyone to know about Sarah and Armenta.

Armenta came to Frostburg State from Upper Marlboro.

Sarah is from Baltimore.

Neither one of them grew up anywhere near this community.

But both of them became a part of this community.

And they took care of their community.

The families they helped may never know their names.

But they will never forget that someone cared.

Sarah and Armenta, thank you.

Bobcats: You have what it takes to make the kind of choices that will prepare you for a life of serving and supporting others.

So my ask to you is simple: Never lose that instinct, and grow it.

If you choose to be someone who can be counted on, I promise that you will not only be ready to take on the world. 

You will find your purpose in it. 

It won’t be glamorous.

It won’t get you any short-term reward.

It won’t be simple.

But if there’s anything my life has taught me it’s this: You can never learn about anyone during the easy times. 

Anyone can show you anything when it’s easy.

You learn about people when times are tough.

And Western Maryland learned about the Class of 2026.

Go make us proud.

And leave no one behind.

Congratulations. And may God bless you.

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