The video begins with a beautiful, reflective song. We see a student sitting at a desk outside on campus, surrounded by trees. The student reads a letter. He says, “Dear Brandeis.” Another student appears on screen and says, “Dear Brandeis community.” We then see a third student, Mona Houjazy ’26, reading the letter. She continues, “It’s hard to believe how fast four years have flown.” Another student appears and says, “From the moment I stepped onto campus, I didn’t know exactly who I’d become. But you gave me the space to figure it out.” At this moment, we see an aerial view of campus with pink flowering trees and a group of students walking by.
Mona Houjazy ’26 returns to the camera and says, “You will not find another collective that sort of all share the same values and goals, but all kind of show it in different ways.” We see an MBA graduate, Ally Chen ’26, sitting in a chair outside a classroom. She adds, “Everyone at Brandeis kind of has an open ear. It’s nice to have that community where you can talk to anyone, build friendships pretty easily.” At this moment, a silhouetted scene shows students playing Spikeball, with the statue of Louis Brandeis visible in the background.
Arjun Kumar Singh appears again and says, “For me, what was extremely unique and important was the sense of belongingness and community.” After him, the first student we saw appears seated in a chair. His name is Zac Goldeman, and he has a degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies with a minor in politics. Zac says, “I have absolutely loved my time at Brandeis. You know, I have been blessed with an incredible group of friends. And I think what makes us special is our people.” We then see a beautiful scene with the Louis Brandeis statue and the sun behind it as the music rises. The video fades to black and then fades back in to Zac, who reads, “There were long nights, hard lessons, moments of joy and moments of doubt.” Mona continues reading the letter: “And through it all, you challenged me, lifted me and let me grow.”
The video then cuts to Ally Chen. She is still sitting in the chair, but now she says in an interview, “It’s just so many opportunities here to, like, experience new things.” At this moment, we see Ally putting on a gown. We then hear Arjun in the background, and he is also dressing for graduation. He puts on a gown and looks very proud of himself.
Mona returns to the camera and reads from the letter: “You gave me more than an education. You gave me a home, a purpose, a voice.” Zac now says, “You taught me how to lead and how to care deeply,” and at that moment, we see Zac also putting on a gown with a big smile on his face. Mona says, “for people,” Ally says, “for ideas,” and Arjun says, “for community.”
While the students speak, we see shots of them putting on their gowns. We then cut to Mona’s interview. She says, “I think Brandeis did a really good job of trying to find people’s interests and also trying to offer electives that would help me sort of explore these interdisciplinary concepts.” We see Mona facing the camera happily.
We cut to Ally Chen, who reads from the letter: “Every memory, from first-year move-in to senior sendoff. The laughter, the tears, the group projects and solo all-nighters.” Mona appears reading the letter and says, “The traditions, the protests, the victories. They’ve shaped me, and I carry them with me always.”
Now we see Arjun putting blue graduation regalia around his neck, and we hear his voice saying, “Getting to be a part of conversation and the process of top-notch social science, research process. Perhaps some of the world’s most prestigious academy conferences have been a highlight for me.” He looks proudly at the camera in a close-up and smiles.
We then cut to Zac. He says, “My long-term goal is to be a rabbi. I want to serve the Jewish community and continue to lead. And to understand what does it mean to be political actors and embrace our role as a political force in this country.”
Ally appears and reads aloud from the letter: “To Brandeis, thank you.” Mona now reads, “For believing in me, for equipping me, for preparing me for what’s next.” We cut to Zac, who says, “To the next generation, may you find your voice here too.” Arjun now says, “May you question, explore and connect.” Ally says, “Let this place change you like it changed me.”
We see Mona again, and she gives advice to the camera. She says, “The advice that I would give someone starting their academic phase. And funny enough, my sister is actually a freshman right now. So it’s the exact thing I tell her: is to take the classes you don’t think that you would enjoy. I thought that I would not enjoy medicine at all. And I took this class. I was like, wait, this is really interesting. So then I took more science classes, and then I got more experience through a Brandeis program.”
We see scenes of Mona dressing for graduation, followed by Zac looking off camera and smiling while wearing graduation regalia with a tassel that says 2026. Zac says, “Brandeis taught me both the content of what it meant to be an American and a scholar of Jewish American studies and a political scientist, but it also taught me how to be a practitioner of those things and how to bring those things to life in pragmatic ways, in ways that actually move the needle. And that is something I am abundantly grateful for.”
We then see Arjun, Mona and Ally saying thank you to the camera and to the Brandeis community in general. A drone shot shows graduating students throwing their caps into the air. They read from the letter: “To my classmates, we’ve made it. We’ve grown. We’ve persevered. And now we rise together.” Ally continues, “Let’s go forward with courage, with gratitude, with love.”
We then hear all the students as we see more shots of the students posing and moving their tassels from one side of their caps to the other. We hear their voices saying, “Thank you, Brandeis,” “Thank you, Brandeis,” and “Congratulations, Class of 2026.” We then see the Brandeis logo as the music fades down.
End of video.