May 11, 2026

by Lauren Ferguson

As Ramapo College of New Jersey’s Class of 2026 celebrates commencement at the Prudential Center this week, they will hear from a graduating Roadrunner who, as a first-year student, set a goal she thought “was a shot in the dark,” – to become Ramapo’s first-ever Truman Scholar. She then spent three years gaining experiences at Ramapo and working hard to make it a reality.

Sarah Glisson ’26, a political science major and public policy minor, from Cinnaminson, NJ – and now Ramapo’s first-ever Truman Scholar – will address the more than 1,500 undergraduate and graduate students accepting their hard-earned degrees, proud families, faculty mentors, and other supporters.

As a Truman Scholar, Glisson joins a distinguished community selected by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. The program was established by Congress in 1975 to support the next generation of public service leaders. The highly competitive scholarship recognizes students with exceptional leadership potential, academic excellence, and a commitment to careers in government or the nonprofit sector.

Glisson said she is going to focus her commencement speech on “the difference between a stepping stone and a milestone.”

“A lot of my big accomplishments, I didn’t necessarily always remember the moment, but I remembered all of the days in between and the events that led up to that, the growth that I had,” she said.

Sarah Glisson ’26 was presented the Outstanding Leadership by a Senior Award during Ramapo’s 2026 Student Leadership Awards reception.

She said her speech will be “a call to action for people to not so much focus on what they achieve in life … but to focus on the present and what you’re learning and the impact that you are having on people.”

During her time at Ramapo, Glisson has made quite an impact.

She began her journey as a Roadrunner as part of the College’s Leaders in Service program, a five-day immersive experience that introduces students to civic engagement and leadership. She worked in the Civic and Community Engagement Center, leading voter registration drives and developing civic programing, for which she was named to the 2025 ALL IN Democracy Challenge Student Voter Honor Roll. She participated in the Sophomores Advancing in Leadership program, where she attended monthly leadership seminars and gave back through community service. She also became an on-campus ambassador for the Andrew Goodman Foundation, as well as a Student Trustee on Ramapo’s Board of Trustees. A member of the College Honors Program, Glisson is graduating summa cum laude.

“The beautiful thing about college is that even when you get to commencement, you’re not done. That’s a new chapter. So really just be patient with yourself, and know that you might not figure it out now, but these are all puzzle pieces and it’s building something beautiful,” she said.

For more on Glisson, read Sarah Glisson ’26 Named A Truman Scholar.