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More than 2,000 undergraduates from North Carolina A&T State University crossed the stage this spring carrying diplomas, dreams and a message from hip hop icon and entertainer Queen Latifah: believe in yourself, even before the world does.
Queen Latifah delivered the keynote address during the university’s undergraduate Spring Commencement exercises held May 8 at First Horizon Coliseum, encouraging students to embrace bold faith in themselves and their futures.
“You have to believe in yourself more than anyone else does,” she told the crowd.
The university hosted two undergraduate ceremonies on Saturday. The morning ceremony honored graduates from the colleges of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Education and Engineering, along with the John R. and Kathy R. Hairston College of Health and Human Sciences. The afternoon ceremony recognized graduates from the colleges of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Technology, and the Willie A. Deese College of Business and Economics.
While final numbers for the 2025-26 academic year are still being calculated, university officials said more than 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students earned degrees this year, marking a record total for the university.
“Today we celebrate that momentum, and we celebrate you,” said Chancellor James R. Martin II. “There’s nobody like A&T students. There’s nobody that can out-compete, out-innovate, out-think and out-lead A&T students.”
Senior Class President and Cheatham-White Scholar Jarrod Mason also addressed undergraduates during both ceremonies, reflecting on the perseverance that brought the Class of 2026 to this moment.
“Now, looking out, I don’t just see caps and gowns. I see future leaders, innovators, creators — individuals ready to make an impact on this world,” Mason said. “Each tassel turned today represents perseverance. Every challenge we faced shaped who we are today. And on this Mother’s Day weekend, we know we could not have made it without the support of our family and friends in the room.”
During her speech, Queen Latifah shared stories from her own journey growing up in East Orange, New Jersey, and pursuing a career in entertainment long before success seemed possible. She reflected on being a teenager traveling into New York City with little money but a strong belief in who she could become.
“You have to be delusional beyond your wildest dreams, beyond your faith, beyond your belief,” she said. “When was I delusional? Well, it started off with me being 16 and calling myself Queen Latifah.”
She explained that even as a teenager with only a bus pass and a few dollars in her pocket, she carried herself with confidence and purpose.
“I was calling myself Queen Latifah because I had this ridiculous amount of faith that I was going to be somebody,” she said. “I was looking forward into the future with a delusional amount of faith that I was going to get there.”
With a career that has spanned more than two decades, including music, film and TV roles, as well as numerous Grammy nominations, to becoming in 2006 the first hip-hop artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she encouraged graduates to trust their instincts, dream beyond limitations and not allow others to define their future.
“Be delusional enough to call yourself something that the world hasn’t called you yet,” Latifah said. “Be brave enough to walk down that road that no one else can see but you.”
She closed her speech with one final reminder for graduates preparing to enter the next chapter of life.
“Get your own crown and rock that damn thing,” she said to loud applause from the audience.
The celebration weekend also included the university’s graduate commencement ceremony on Friday night, where 350 students received graduate degrees. Nia Danielle Banks ’95, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, a board-certified plastic surgeon, serving the Annapolis, Maryland, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas, served as keynote speaker.
“In the moments when the journey feels hard, and it will, remember this: We are not here by accident,” Banks told graduates. “We stand on sacrifice, on resilience, on brilliance that has rebuilt civilizations again and again across time and continents. Knowing who you are, and whose you are, is a privilege.”
