Graduation ceremonies follow a familiar script. Someone stands up and says something inspiring about the future. Everyone files out clutching their diplomas. The class of 2026 at NC State University’s Wilson College of Textiles thought they were about to receive just that. What they got was something different.
More than 170 students filled Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh on May 8 as commencement speaker Anil Kochhar stepped to the mic. Kochhar, whose father was a member of the school's 1950 and 1952 classes, had been invited to speak at the Wilson College of Textiles graduation. But he hadn't come just to talk.