Rutgers-Newark Commencement Speaker Ramy Youssef Finally Receives Degree

Actor and creator Ramy Youssef, a former Rutgers University–Newark student who went on to forge a pioneering career in film and television, returned to receive an honorary degree at the school’s graduation ceremony, where he was commencement speaker.

“My parents are here, finally getting to see the thing that they paid for. The money was not wasted,’’ joked Youssef, who attended for three semesters starting  2011 and later found success as an award-winning actor, writer, director, and producer. He received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

“I didn’t do what you guys are doing today. This is an amazing accomplishment,’’ he told graduates at the ceremony, which was held at the Prudential Center in Newark. The Class of 2025 totals nearly 3,000.

Youssef is best-known for creating and starring in Ramy, the first series about a Muslim-American family, and his role in the Oscar-winning Poor Things. Like Ramy, his new animated series #1 Happy Family USA also draws from his life, telling the story of an Egyptian  family in New Jersey in the aftermath of 9/11.

Youssef, who grew up in Rutherford, encouraged the Class of 2025 to cultivate the ability to let go of plans and be present with whatever life brings.

The son of college-educated immigrants, Youssef, who majored in Political Science, planned to become a lawyer but dreamed of being an actor. 

 “I had to be practical,’’ he said.

But at Rutgers-Newark, he was also pursuing his career as a performer, trying out some of his first routines as a stand-up comedian at the Black Box Theater at 110 Warren Street. He  committed himself to acting after a bout with Bell’s Palsy paralyzed the left side of his face for seven months.

“I didn’t know what to do with my life because I lost half of my face. For someone who wanted to be an actor and was going to acting school, it was the scariest thing that could happen,’’ he said.

Youssef woke every day and looked in the mirror to see if the palsy was gone. When it wasn’t, he had a revelation. 

“Here on this campus, I had to stop thinking about what people thought of me and what I looked like,’’ said Youssef, who returned to acting classes despite his facial paralysis and put college on hold to hone his craft.

“It was a very hard thing to decide because it ruined the plan. And at the time, I had a lot of plans,’’ he said. “If there’s something I can tell you, you have to let go of your plans. Your plans will fall apart, but your ability to be present is the only thing you can grow. And when you allow yourself to be present, things happen that you can never imagine.’’

Although he left before his own graduation, Youssef said he loved attending Rutgers-Newark and praised it for being one of the most diverse schools in America.

At the ceremony, Youssef expressed sadness that his grandfather died four weeks before seeing him finally receive his degree. One of the only people in his Egyptian village who could read and write, he went on to become an interpreter for the United Nations.

He said his grandfather often marveled at today’s college students, including the ones seated before Youssef at the Prudential Center.

“He has looked at you, this exact class, and said, ‘These kids are amazing. They stand up for what they know is right,''' Youssef recalled.

Rutgers-Newark Interim Chancellor Jeffrey Robinson also extolled the graduates, many of whom, like Youssef, come from immigrant families or are immigrants themselves.

 “Rutgers University—Newark is and has always been a university of immigrants. Our university is situated at the crossroads of the densest immigration gateway in the United States. Many of our faculty and staff are also immigrants, children of immigrants, and second- generation Americans,’’ he said.

 “As an institution, city and state, we are blessed by the tapestry of talents, values, beliefs and cultures of those coming to the United States seeking to settle in a welcoming community. We celebrate our immigrant roots,’’ said Robinson.

He recounted the stories of several students, many of whom worked their way through school, sometimes in multiple jobs, raised families, and served as volunteers or advocated for others. “I am inspired by the courage you have brought, individually and as a community, as we respond to this moment in history,’’ Robinson said.

Also speaking at the ceremony was graduate student Nasheedah Singleton, who received an Executive Master of Public Administration degree from the School of Public Affairs and Administration, and undergraduate speaker Arionna Sterling, a double major in Supply Chain Management and Leadership & Management at Rutgers Business School.

“Together we have been shaped by this school. And now it is our turn to shape the future,'' said Sterling.

Also receiving an honorary degree at the ceremony was Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Executive Director of the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University in Georgia. 

Negi, who trained as a Tibetan monk in India, developed Cognitively-Based Compassion Training in 2004 to help students reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and to advance the science of compassion.  During the past 20 years, it has been offered across 26 countries and in 15 languages.