PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

To the Class of 2023:

Today’s commencement marks the 93rd time that Cal Maritime has gathered to send its graduates off into great and meaningful livelihoods. Congratulations on reaching this important milestone. Although you have spent much of your tenure at Cal Maritime overcoming a variety of challenges, your resilience and success in the face of adversity is a testament to your character, hard work, and resolve. We are proud to call you one of our graduates. This achievement impacts the lives of so many people—yourselves, your families, your faculty, and your alma mater. All these many years you have committed yourselves to excellence in learning, athletics, service, and leadership.

We have watched you blossom in your years at Cal Maritime, and we are confident in your bright futures. We have great expectations as you and your peers begin to take on the mantle of leadership in an exciting, dynamic global maritime profession. The values that you learned and lived at Cal Maritime are timeless and enduring. Knowledge and professional practices change over time, but humanity will always place its highest value on a tireless work ethic, critical thinking, and servant leadership. These qualities and the resilient spirit you have demonstrated will take you far. You are poised for success, and we will remain your greatest supporters.

In the years ahead, we know that you will represent Cal Maritime well. Your future colleagues will not have to ask where you received your education—they will know because you will carry with yourself the qualities of our best graduates: humility, a sense of service to others, and a compelling desire to be the absolute best. Fair winds and following seas all the days of our lives! In service,

Rear Admiral Thomas A. Cropper, U.S.M.S. President