# @brownu on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DYs6FdVkYyL
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/65816889-brownu-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/76d701b1ff.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-05-24T00:42:18.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Brown University (@brownu) — https://gondola.cc/brownu

## Caption

In a Saturday afternoon Master’s Ceremony address, student speaker Kenia T. Collins recalled the assumptions she carried with her when she came to Brown after spending most of her life in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“I imagined an institution filled with brilliant minds yet distant from the realities that shape so many lives,” said Collins, who earned a master of science in healthcare leadership from brownu_professional. “Instead, I encountered something far more powerful. I met people who were the living embodiment of sacrifice — students whose stories crossed continents and generations. Brown’s diversity was not accidental. It was instructional. Because when people with different lived experiences learn together, we ask sharper questions, challenge deeper assumptions and refuse easy answers to complex problems.”

Before the ceremony, more than 1,000 graduates from 68 different countries followed bagpipers to the College Green, where their families and friends were patiently waiting. On Sunday, the master’s graduates will have the opportunity to participate in Brown’s formal Commencement and Reunion procession.

After a warm introduction by Sandra Smith, dean of the School of Professional Studies, Collins called upon fellow graduates to use what they learned in their respective programs to make positive change in the world.

“We were not trained simply to manage organizations; we were challenged to interrogate systems,” Collins said. “Therefore, this educational achievement does not merely expand our opportunity — it expands our obligation. If we can identify inequity, we share responsibility for addressing it. If we can envision better systems, we share responsibility for building them. That is the weight of this education.”

Judging from Collins’ smile and the graduates’ enthusiastic cheers, it’s a weight they are proud to bear. #BrownU #Brown2026

🔗 Read more at the link in our bio.

📸 Image credit: Nick Dentamaro

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## Tags

brown2026, brownu

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