Weitzman Community Celebrates Class of 2026

In her graduation speech to the Weitzman School of Design’s Class of 2026 on Saturday, Inga Saffron, the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, said that for years she was written off as a “crank” for stubbornly insisting that Philadelphia’s built environment deserved better urbanism and design. But slowly, as a new generation of Philadelphians took root in a city that had been diminished by destructive urban schemes, those values of making and protecting better urban spaces for people and the environment became more mainstream. The same ideas are embedded in the education the Weitzman students receive.

“How do you stay true to your values in these reactionary times? How do you avoid being sucked into the maelstrom of cynicism and opportunism? Be a crank,” Saffron said. “You can’t solve all the problems facing the world right now, but by mindfully sticking to your beliefs in your professional life, you can be part of the resistance.”

The Class of 2026 includes 326 students from 35 countries and 36 US states. The ceremony was held in Irvine Hall, designed by Julian Abele, the first Black American to receive an architecture degree from Penn. Weitzman Dean and Paley Professor Fritz Steiner encouraged students and their families to reflect on the school’s legacy and mission, “to advance the public good by improving places where we live and work” through the school’s 12 degree programs. He recognized recipients of the G. Holmes Perkins Teaching Award, an honor given annually to faculty members based on student nominations. This year’s awardees are Scott Aker, a lecturer in architecture; Shea O’Neill, a lecturer in city and regional planning; and Xiaoxia “Summer” Dong, assistant professor of city and regional planning.

Matt Nord, chair of the Weitzman Board of Advisors, credited Steiner for overseeing the development of the school’s newest strategic plan, called “Making Space for the Public Good.” The plan focuses on the goals of designing healthier cities, promoting interdisciplinary innovation, advancing climate and energy solutions, and encouraging cultural exchange.

“‘Making space’ means you don’t wait for permission; you create it. And ‘public good’ forces you to ask the question of who benefits,” Nord said. “Those two ideas, agency and responsibility, sit at the core of what you’ve been trained to do. Hold onto these principles and think about how they will shape your careers.”

Elizabeth Delmelle, an associate professor of city and regional planning, brought the poetry to the ceremony, when she introduced the candidates for the Master of Urban Spatial Analytics, the program she directs. She referred to the one-minute time limit that faculty speakers were given (but did not observe), then recited four haikus that she had composed in honor of the MUSA Class of 2026. Reading the last poem, she said, “Graduation time. What will you do now, pray tell? Go map the future!”

Students roared for Fanessa de la Rosa, a graduating Master of City Planning student who gave the Class of 2026 speaker at Saturday’s commencement. De la Rosa said that May had become a time of reflection for her since the passing of her grandmother several years ago. Since then, de la Rosa said she’d come to feel that “Every chapter has a purpose, even if it is currently unknown, and that every challenge has pushed me to recognize that I have the tools to bring my vision to reality, because I can build with and learn from others.”

In her speech, de la Rosa shared gratitude with the university staff, facilities support personnel and maintenance workers, her fellow students, and her teachers.

“Their pedagogy demanded that we sit with our current realities and systems and ask, what role do I play in this?” de la Rosa said. “Our training has given us the tools to be practitioners who know that social challenges do not live in isolation. With that knowledge we are challenged to envision design and create with and for communities … I am graduating here with the tools to better face challenges head on. And more importantly, I am leaving here with all of you, a community we created together.”