boulder>> A clear blue sky and sunny spring morning enhanced the joy and excitement of members of the class of 2025 as they celebrated their graduation from the University of Colorado on Thursday.

Students cheered and danced in the aisles as they took their seats at graduation in Folsom Field, eager to celebrate their accomplishments with one another and their families.

“The sun is shining on you today,” CU President Todd Saliman said when addressing the graduates.

The Boulder campus conferred a record 10,138 degrees earned by 9,934 graduates at its graduation Thursday, including 7,533 undergraduate degrees, 1,793 master’s degrees, 481 doctoral degrees, 178 law degrees and 153 master’s of business administration degrees.

Genesse Miles, a graduate from Commerce City, will be sad to leave CU.

“It was definitely a journey,” Miles said. “I was kind of finding myself and finding what I wanted to do. I started in engineering and ended in art, so that’s a pretty transformative journey from start to finish.”

Miles said it “doesn’t seem quite real yet” that graduation is here. After commencement, Miles plans to spend time building a graphic design portfolio and get a tattoo apprenticeship after that.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself,” Miles said, adding, “I’ve kind of found myself through art and been able to find what I wanted to do.”

This year’s commencement address was delivered by Emma Coburn, a three-time track Olympian, an NCAA national champion and a Boulder alum. Coburn shared the challenges she faced on the way to becoming a successful track athlete and offered advice as the new graduates move into the world. “Pressure, discomfort, the unknown — that’s where the growth happens,” Coburn said.

She shared how she overcame what she calls “the gap,” or the space between where she was and where she wanted to go. Coburn said she had to overcome her fear of failure and desire to quit when facing difficulties, by taking many small steps to get there.

“It’s not a flaw,” Coburn said. “It’s not a sign you’re behind. It’s proof you have a vision for your life.”

She shared two pieces of advice about choices and knowing what one can control: “Win at the things that don’t require talent. You don’t need talent to show up early, to be kind, to take feedback, to stay consistent. Those are choices, not gifts.”

She told the graduates that they will fail, so it’s important for them to build their resilience now.

“Control what you can; let go of what you can’t,” Coburn said. “In sport, I can’t control if someone cheats, or if someone is better than me on race day or if it rains. But I can control how I respond.”

Senior Michael Drozd is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in information science. He said meeting new people and seeing different perspectives had a big impact on him.

“Coming here and seeing the mountains every day, going to class was an amazing experience,” Drozd said.

Graduate Dylann Harrower will teach kindergarten at Federal Heights Elementary School this fall.

“I’ve met a lot of great people up here, and my education has been really solid, too,” she said. “I’ve had a really great time.”

The ceremony also marked Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz’s first commencement. He advised the graduates to make change wherever they stand, whether that’s at work, at home or in their community.

“My hope for you, graduates, is that your next step will be to use your knowledge, energy and passion to act in service of a sustainable, inclusive and just world,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz also recognized CU super fan Peggy Coppom with the Chancellor’s Impact Award for her lifetime of dedication to the university.

Coppom has been part of the CU community for more than 80 years. She and her family started sporadically attending sports games in the 1940s, and, so far, she has attended more than 2,500 CU sporting events across nine sports.

When Coppom’s award was announced, and she stood to greet the crowd, a loud cheer echoed through Folsom Field. The graduates began chanting her name, which made Coppom emotional as she stood on stage. “It made me cry,” Coppom said regarding the students’ cheers.

Aaditya Pore, the senior class council president, closed out the ceremony with a call for all graduates to move forward with a commitment to kindness.

“Use your spark — your curiosity, your ambition, your passion — to create a world where empathy is the norm, not the exception,” Pore said. “Now, more than ever, we need leaders who are willing to listen, to understand and to act with love.”

He reflected on how each graduate has changed since coming to CU and how they’ll all carry that experience with them.

“We’ve been given the gift of education, but we’ve also been given the gift of connection — to each other, to our communities and to the world,” Pore said. “Let’s use that gift to make a difference, to choose community over conflict, and to make the world a better place for everyone.”