On May 9, 2026, 322 graduates gathered for a ceremony unlike any before it — the first Convocation held as the newly reimagined David B. Falk College of Sport. In remarks that opened the celebration, Dean Jeremy S. Jordan reflected on what that milestone means, and on the remarkable class crossing the stage.
Falk College student Gianna Sanzone ’26 performs the Star-Spangled Banner at Falk College Convocation
"Good afternoon," Jordan began. "On behalf of our faculty and staff, it's my great honor to welcome you to our 2026 Convocation and to confer degrees upon this remarkable graduating class, our very first as the Falk College of Sport."
Falk College student Rylie DiMaio ’26 introduces keynote speaker David B. Falk ’72.
The ceremony honored graduates across four departments — Exercise Science, Nutrition and Food Studies, Sport Analytics, and Sport Management — earning degrees from the certificate level through the Ph.D.
Audience members at the John A. Lally Athletics Complex looking towards the stage.
In attendance at the John A. Lally Athletics Complex were the faculty members and staff Jordan credited as the architects of everything the day represented: "These are the people who have taught, mentored, challenged, and championed this class every step of the way, and none of what we're celebrating today happens without them."
David B. Falk ’72 delivers the keynote address at Falk College Convocation.
Jordan also welcomed a special guest to the ceremony: Syracuse University Life Trustee, Falk College benefactor, and keynote speaker David Falk ’72 and his wife, Rhonda ’74. "Your generosity and dedication have made a lasting difference to this college," Jordan told the audience.
What the Class of 2026 Accomplished
Falk College students stand and applaud their families and supporters seated in the audience at Falk College Convocation
Before turning to the graduates themselves, Jordan paused to ask them to do something: to stand and recognize the people in the audience who helped them arrive at this moment. "None of you got here alone," he said. "Behind every one of you is a community of people who believed in you and encouraged you along the way."
Falk College student Braeden Cheverie-Leonard ’26 delivers his speech at Falk College Convocation.
Then, he outlined the legacy this class leaves behind.
- Took the undergraduate title at the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship
- Defeated law students from Harvard, Columbia, and Georgetown in the Tulane Professional Basketball Negotiation, one of just two undergraduate teams in a field of 58.
- Advanced as the only U.S. team to the Grand Final of the International Olympic Case Study Competition at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Had two students, Daniel Baris and Rylie DiMaio, named Syracuse University Scholars, the university’s highest undergraduate honor.
- Presented research at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Competition that is shaping industry conversation on athlete evaluation and sport governance.
- Worked professional sidelines applying human performance science to elite athlete care in real time.
- Raised more than $76,000 for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital and toured the facility the donation will benefit.
- Launched the first graduating cohort of the esports communications and management program, a first-of-its-kind degree born from a partnership between Falk College and the Newhouse School.
"They went to Frankfurt and Fenway Park, to Las Vegas and Los Angeles — not as tourists, but as practitioners who had done the work to earn a seat in the room." – Dean Jeremy S. Jordan
Falk College students lined up awaiting their turn to cross the stage at Falk College Convocation.
Sport for Good – In Practice
Jordan noted that many of the class's most lasting contributions weren't made on competition stages. In Syracuse City Schools, Falk students taught children about food, culture, and nutrition, a discipline Jordan described as "a form of care." They introduced sport analytics to young students who had never encountered the field and made it feel like play. They didn't wait for recognition to find them.
Otto the Orange sways alongside audience members during the singing of the Syracuse University Alma Mater.
"This is what we mean when we say sport for good. Not a tagline. A practice. An orientation toward the world that asks not just what sport can do for you, but what you, armed with everything you have learned and built and become, can do through sport for others." – Dean Jeremy S. Jordan
The Class of 2026 includes the first cohort of graduates from the esports communications and management program. Students learned in spaces still being built around them, competed on varsity teams that barely existed when they enrolled, and helped open one of the most advanced esports production facilities on any college campus in the country. "What they helped prove," Jordan said, "is that esports is not a pastime but a profession, not a subculture but an industry."
Falk College faculty members line the walkway out of the John A. Lally Athletics Complex, awaiting the student procession.
Jordan closed by invoking Nelson Mandela's belief that sport has the power to create hope where once there was only despair. For the Class of 2026, he said, that idea was more than inspiration, it was a tested proposition. "In hospitals and elementary schools, on professional sidelines and international competition stages, in communities that needed something and found Falk students who showed up."
Falk College students celebrate as they exit Falk College Convocation.
Dean Jordan concluded with a charge to the graduates:
You are scholars. You are leaders. You are champions. And you are just getting started.