Former Ambassador Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón and former U.S. Senator George Helmy will receive honorary degrees from New Jersey City University next Spring during ceremonies at the Prudential Center, the school announced.
NJCU Interim President Andres Acebo, who will preside over his third commencement ceremony, will award Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degrees to both.
Reynoso, a Dominican Republic-born American attorney and diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra from 2022-24, will deliver the commencement address to the Class of 2025, highlighting her inspiring personal story and connecting it to the shared experiences of so many NJCU graduates.
The ceremony will celebrate students receiving their degrees in January 2025, May 2025, and August 2025.
Acebo expressed the significance of this year’s honorees and the inspiration they bring to the university community.
“At NJCU, commencement is a celebration of possibility, a testament to the resilience of first-generation journeys, and a moment to reflect on how representation shapes our collective future,” he said. “By honoring Ambassador Reynoso and Senator Helmy, two inspirational leaders with the same kind of humble beginnings that so many of our students experience daily, we send a powerful message to our graduates: you belong in spaces of power and influence.”
Acebo said the 2025 commencement will be a momentous occasion, celebrating the resilience, diversity and ambition that define the NJCU community with graduates eager to walk the stage to receive the degrees that they worked tirelessly to earn, often through incredibly difficult circumstances that prove the determination and fortitude of NJCU’s student body.
Acebo said the honorees reflect the grit of the class.
“Ambassador Reynoso Pantaleón and Senator Helmy’s stories — rooted in representation, perseverance, and service — mirror the experiences of so many in our community,” he said. “Our goal is for all our students and their loved ones to see themselves reflected in leadership and to believe that their heritage and hard work are not barriers but instead bridges to success.
“This is a story many of us personally live — a first-generation journey where the path is rarely linear, where quiet indignities persist, but where an education coupled with an audacious and unshakable spirit can lead to a remarkable and impactful life, and it is the promise of NJCU’s revitalized mission on the precipice of its second century of service.”
Helmy, who returned to his role as executive vice president, chief external affairs and policy officer at RWJBarnabas Health, said on social media that he values the connection he has to the university.
“Thank you to NJCU and President Acebo for this incredible honor from the university literally down the street from my parents first home in the States – our apartment in Jersey City,” he wrote.
