‘Go be great’: On commencement weekend, Weber State University grad implores others to fulfill their potential
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- Tate Warren speaks during the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Graduates attend the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Graduates attend the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Graduates attend the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Graduates attend the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Graduates attend the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Graduates attend the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Graduates attend the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Graduates attend the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Graduates attend the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Graduates attend the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
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- Tate Warren speaks during the convocation ceremony for Weber State University’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday. April 25, 2025.
OGDEN — Thousands of students at high schools and institutions of higher learning across the Beehive State will walk with their graduating classes and receive diplomas over the course of the weekend. That includes more than 3,800 students from Weber State University’s seven academic colleges, who earned credentials ranging from associate degrees to doctorates.
Among them is Tate Warren, who graduated early with degrees in both political science and quantitative economics. He walked with graduates from Weber State’s College of Social & Behavioral Sciences on Friday and also spoke during the convocation.
Warren’s message to fellow graduates was simple: “Go be great” — a charge he believes everyone has the potential to fulfill.
“If I wanted someone to take away anything from my speech, it would be that I’ve always disputed the idea that I’m somehow smarter, like I have this natural sense of intelligence, because I definitely disagree,” Warren told the Standard-Examiner. “I think I’ve mainly been driven just by my work ethic over everything else.”
He was also motivated by a desire to fulfill his parents’ dreams. According to Warren, both his mom and dad had designs on attending Weber State when they were young, but chose instead to raise a family and preserve their finances.
While his parents nonetheless established careers with the federal government, their sacrifices stuck with Warren. So, he worked to become a first-generation college student and to pay his own way.
“That was an especially big motivator for me because I knew I wanted to get an education,” Warren said. “My parents always tried to impress upon us the importance of education.”
Warren laid the groundwork during high school, earning college credit while attending the Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Science. As he transitioned into college life, he was already leaning into what he admits are some unconventional passions for young people.
“I’ve always been somewhat of an odd kid in that I love the news, politics, and just like watching the news ever since I can remember,” Warren said. “Ever since, like, the age of 12, I got my parents registered to vote and everything like that. I eventually want to be like a Supreme Court and appellate litigator. I’ve always wanted to. I’m like a Supreme Court nerd.”
To that end, he filled his spare time and even planned his class schedules at Weber State around a number of internships. He interned for former Weber State President Ann Millner, now a Utah state senator; he did time at U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart’s Bountiful and Washington, D.C., offices; and did the same with Goldman Sachs, specializing in financial crime compliance, among other internships.
He also served as chief justice for the Weber State University Student Association.
With his diploma(s) now in hand, Warren is slated to return to Goldman Sachs as an employee, but he also intends to study for the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT. As nice as it is to have completed his undergraduate education, he views commencement weekend as a stop along the road, not his destination.
“I love the idea of being a lifelong learner. … I’m really grateful for my experience here, but I feel like it’s just kind of propelling me to the next step,” Warren said. “I’m of course going to be working next year, and that’s going to be a change of pace, but I just literally cannot wait for law school.”
Still, Warren considers the lessons he learned at Weber State and the support he received from his classmates, professors and university staffers — people like Leah Murray, Gary Johnson, Therese Cavlovic and Becky Stromberg, who he calls “a friend and someone I can just go to for anything” — invaluable.
“I felt like you see all these amazing people doing amazing things, but they’re also going to these really high-end schools and I didn’t really have the means of doing that,” Warren said. “I think there’s this misconception that you can’t get there through Weber State, but I think that’s entirely wrong. You have so much access to staff and just these extremely intelligent professors that are willing to help you so much through everything.”
Weber State University News Coordinator Rachel Badali told the Standard-Examiner that the institution will award more than 7,000 certificates and degrees during the 2024-25 academic year. The top five bachelor’s degrees this semester were in nursing, professional sales, computer science, psychological science and business administration.
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