Diego Longoria

I am incredibly honored to stand here before my fellow graduates and to speak on behalf of all graduating students. And to my family who didn’t know I would be doing this speech … SURPRISE! I’m the student commencement speaker.

But before I share my thoughts, I want to recognize and honor some very special graduates. Please stand if you are first-generation graduates, graduates with children or graduates who are entering our military or who have served our nation. All of you have shattered barriers. And because of your sacrifices, you will have a tremendous impact on your family and future generations. Thank you for your bravery.

I also want to take the time to thank our faculty and administrators for their hard work and dedication to help make UT Dallas an amazing place to be. Teaching at this prestigious University is not an easy feat. So, I hope each of you will reach out to the faculty that helped make your success possible. For me, I want to highlight one professor that has helped change my life. Dr. Steven Haynes has made it his life’s goal to find success in every student he teaches. He has worked hard with me to navigate my incredibly busy schedule. And I owe a lot of my success to him.

I’m sure that I’m not alone in having received a scholarship from UT Dallas. Earning financial support has helped us reduce tremendous stress, but the support we received from our program leadership made an enormous difference, too. We are truly grateful.

Today marks the beginning of the rest of our lives. Today, we have all done something amazing. Today, we are officially UT Dallas graduates.

Whether we began four years ago as freshmen, or two years ago as master’s students, we all joined the best University in the nation — The University of Texas at Dallas. We quickly learned to navigate living on our own, living through a pandemic and making new friends in incredibly uncertain times.

All of us found our place somewhere in the University’s community. I found my place with the UT Dallas baseball team. It was a thrill to be successful both in the classroom and on the field. And if you didn’t know, in the last four years, the UT Dallas baseball team won two conference championships and broke numerous records along the way.

As students, we have all faced obstacles. Many of us struggled with a difficult class, changing their major or being away from home. At the end of my sophomore year, I dislocated my shoulder and tore my labrum. This caused a quick end to my baseball season. And although this sounds like a small injury and complaint to some, this injury gave me an incredible opportunity to learn about who I am and what I was truly capable of.

Many of us found our identities in college. For some, we found our life’s passion, our future profession or even developed a business idea. For me, I figured out who I was because of my involvement in sports at UT Dallas.

I started playing baseball at 5 years old. I have now played this sport for over three- fourths of my life. So, my injury felt like not only the end of my career, but, ultimately, the end of my identity. I felt I was nothing without baseball, just an empty shell with only the passion for a sport that I could no longer play.

After a few months of physical therapy multiple times a week, I found a way to continue playing for our school. Having two coaches who believed in me helped make my recovery possible and I’m extremely grateful. Thanks Coach Shane Shewmake, Coach Travis Graves and the athletic training staff.

Although I was able to continue playing, I learned a lot about myself in the process. I learned that I was more than just a sport and that my voice and opinions matter.

I love how we have a vocal campus and a student body that cares about each other and about important issues. And because of this, I was inspired to speak up and lead others to success.

I joined our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and became the first president of our University’s chapter of Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society. Through these organizations, we helped give our student-athletes a voice and a means to improve their academic and athletic journeys.

We know that the curriculum here is rigorous and that the journey was challenging. But today we are standing here because of our hard work and dedication, and most importantly, because we refused to give up when times were difficult.

It is important as we move forward in our journey that we speak up for others, that we push each other to be better humans and that we incite real change in organizations that need it.

So, I want to share a few quotes that embody these ideals. First, if you don’t like the way something is being run, join it and change it from within. Do not sit back and complain. Step up and make changes where you want them. Second, the best time to plant an oak tree was 50 years ago; the next best time to plant that tree is today.

Today, we will plant our oak tree. Today, we are the world’s future. Today, we walk out of here knowing we can do anything we put our minds to. And today, we represent The University of Texas at Dallas’ Class of 2024!

Congratulations, Class of 2024, and go, Comets!

---

Diego Longoria came from Houston, Texas, and is graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor’s in finance. He has been involved in several student organizations, serving as the executive administrator of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the first president of Chi Alpha Sigma. He has made the Dean’s List six times. He has won two conference championships and been named all-conference academic numerous times. Longoria was the 2023 Iron Comet Award recipient as well as a two-time Comet Award winner for baseball. After graduation, he plans to continue his education with UTD through the online MBA program while working as a financial analyst for the Pilot Company under PFJ Energy.