Hope springs eternal this time of year — for lovers of warmer weather and scores of starry eyed students looking to make the next leap upwards in their academic or professional careers.

There’s something innately hopeful about a graduation ceremony. It’s the celebration of one journey coming to an end, and the recognition of the next journey beginning. The contagious feelings of pride and excitement for the future are something that can make even the most cynical stop and reflect on moments where the road ahead seemed so wide open, and yours for the taking.

Graduations — whether they signify a passage from Pre-K to proper school, elementary to middle school, middle school to high school, high school to university, or from any level of post-graduate education into various branches of the professional world — represent the never-ending march forward of humanity; forging new paths, inspiring new innovations, and continuing the elusive search for a better and more prosperous tomorrow. The youthful who enjoy such ceremonies provide us all hope for a brighter, better tomorrow.

It is also enjoyable to witness from an outside perspective to see what keynote speakers universities find to generate buzz for their big events; and make no mistake, graduations have become as important to advertising the university’s prowess as any summertime newsletter or high school college fair.

New England Institute of Technology grabbed Rita Moreno, best known as Anita from “West Side Story”, but also for the distinction of being the only Latina EGOT (someone who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award). Another EGOT winner (and pride of Rhode Island College), Viola Davis, will receive an honorary doctorate at URI. Bryant got Karen Lynch, President and CEO of CVS Health. Salve Regina got President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s granddaughter, Susan Eisenhower. RISD got an Emmy-award winning ad designer from Squarespace, and Providence College got a guy who co-wrote a book with Oprah.

You get the point.

In an ever-competitive industry of higher education, it seems graduations are no longer just an opportunity for bright, young minds to reflect on an academic career complete and to look ahead to a lifetime of new opportunities, they’re also a chance for higher education institutions to flex their muscles and grab headlines, all in hopes of the process beginning all over again the next year.

Provided these (assumedly highly compensation) guests of honor take the time to try and instill the same values of hard work, pride in accomplishments, and not fearing taking on long odds to become something special in this great big world, rather than just pad their own egos, we see nothing wrong with adding a little celebrity flair to a day already ripe with plenty of pomp and circumstance.

Enjoy your moment on the big stage, graduates, an even bigger one awaits.