Darden Class of 2026 Graduates Urged Focus on the ‘Small e and i’ Experiences and Impacts in Their Future

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business honored 524 new graduates at its academic regalia ceremony on 16 May before they walked the Lawn for UVA Final Exercises on 17 May.

The class includes 336 Full-Time MBA graduates, 115 Executive MBA graduates and 61 Part-Time MBA graduates. A dozen dual-degree students earned their MBAs as well as post-graduate degrees in medicine, law, education, engineering and public policy.

Interim Dean Mike Lenox charged graduates to pursue the good life after Darden by focusing on two simple things: the experiences they pursue and the impact they seek to make in the world.

Interim dean Mike Lenox argued that the “small e” and “small i” experiences and impacts would become those graduates cherish the most in their lives. Photo by Caroline Mackey.

“Travel. Seek adventure. Take chances. Do not be complacent with routine. Challenge yourself. Be unafraid to be silly. Make yourself uncomfortable. And always, always seek to learn,” he said of pursuing experiences. He challenged all graduates to aim high when it came to impact.

Lenox argued that, ultimately, the “small e” and “small i” experiences and impacts would become those graduates cherish the most in their lives. He recalled creating a list in his mid-20s of 50 life experiences he hoped to have, and one was to teach his son how to box out while playing basketball. The kicker: Lenox did not yet have a son when he made the list. But the lesson, he said, was that his younger self understood a quiet moment between father and son could matter just as much as a grand achievement.

Lenox told Class of 2026 members that, as they move on from Darden, they will need to make three critical decisions in life that will define their experiences and impact:

• Who are your partners?
• What is your purpose?
• Where is your place?

“Purpose is something we talk about constantly here at Darden. Pursue your purpose,” he said. “Some MBAs like to ask: ‘How much money do I need to accumulate so I can retire early?’ … The few people I’ve known who exited early — all entrepreneurs — lasted about a week on the golf course before starting their next venture. Human beings are meant to have purpose. So instead of asking, ‘When can I stop working?’ I encourage you to ask, ‘What is the kind of work I would never want to stop doing?’”

He concluded with a last, simple piece of advice: Love one another.

“The good life is lived in the small letters: the little e experiences and little i impacts shared with people you love, in pursuit of meaningful purpose, in the place you choose to call home.”

Darden graduates celebrated in an academic regalia ceremony on Flagler Court at Darden’s Charlottesville Grounds before walking the Lawn for UVA Final Exercises. Photo by Caroline Mackey.

Student Speakers Focus on What Matters Most

Elected by their classmates to deliver remarks at the Darden ceremony, Full-Time MBA graduate Mel Phillips (MBA ’26), Executive MBA graduate Bruce McAdams (EMBA ’26) and Part-Time MBA graduate Stuart Nystrom (PTMBA ’26) recalled the many memorable and meaningful stories that brought the Class of 2026 together over the past two or more years.

Leading off the student speakers, Nystrom said his Part-Time MBA classmates were defined by a “unique spirit” that led them to become the second class to graduate from Darden’s newest professional degree program format.

“We chose Darden’s Part-Time program because it offered us the opportunity to build community and the challenge to apply what we learned immediately,” he said. “Darden handed us a room and said: ‘Fill it.’”

What did they fill it with? “Community,” Nystrom said. But they also used their Darden experience to fill other rooms: the ones where they worked, allowing them to earn promotions, make career changes and launch new ventures before even graduating.

Hundreds of hugs were given and received before and after Darden’s graduation ceremony. Photo by Caroline Mackey.

“Darden taught us to fill the room. Now the rooms are bigger. And the stakes are real.”

Phillips recalled how the Darden experience altered students’ expectations of where they would spend their time and energy and taught them that trade-offs were inevitable.

“At some point, we’ll have to choose between building a career, building relationships and building a life we actually enjoy living,” he said. “In the next chapter, we need to be far more deliberate with how we spend our time, otherwise we might wake up with a few regrets,” he said. However, he emphasized that Darden trained the graduates to identify what matters most and to be accountable for their choices. “All of us know how to think on our feet. We know how to listen. We know how to sift through the minutia and decide what matters.”

McAdams asked graduates to recall a moment when “the world seemed to pause, your heart slowed, the sounds around you grew muffled?” He called those instances “moments of clarity,” and described how his learning at Darden empowered him to have a meaningful one — an interaction that allowed him to help a colleague find his voice at a critical moment.

“There is one constant among these moments: someone is helping to create them. And here is the surprise. We created these moments for others without knowing it,” McAdams said. “Our responsibility now is to create these clarifying moments in our businesses, our communities and, most importantly, our families.”

Graduates were joined and celebrated by friends and family for the ceremony and following picnic on Darden’s Grounds. Photo by Caroline Mackey.

Watch The Full Graduation Ceremonies