When Sloane Barlow first saw the email inviting students to apply for commencement speaker, she nearly passed it over.

“Who am I to speak on behalf of so many successful graduates?” she wondered as she looked ahead to graduating in Spring 2026 with dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Journalism and a minor in Media Photography.

A conversation with her mother — an MSU alum who delivered the commencement speech at her own MSU graduation from the College of Human Ecology — changed her mind. Her mother helped her see the opportunity differently, and Barlow was struck by the idea of carrying the tradition forward as a second-generation Spartan commencement speaker, with her mom in the audience.

“When it comes to my education, I’m not just proud of myself, I’m also very grateful to my parents for supporting me,” Barlow said. “That familial aspect encouraged me to apply.”

Barlow was chosen to represent the graduating class and will deliver the 2026 student address during the College of Arts & Letters commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 3, at 8:30 a.m. at the Breslin Student Events Center.

“I am just so grateful to be able to speak to a community that has meant so much to me,” she said.

“I am just so grateful to be able to speak to a community that has meant so much to me.”

Barlow’s connection to MSU runs deep, though attending MSU wasn’t always certain. A campus visit to the College of Arts & Letters during the Honors College Alumni Distinguished Scholarship competition in February 2022 solidified her decision.

“Meeting faculty and staff made it feel like a close-knit community of creative people like me,” she said.

Two Degrees, One Storytelling Vision

An Honors College student from Rochester Hills, Michigan, Barlow entered MSU as an English major and soon after added Journalism to further pursue the immersive storytelling she admired in publications like National Geographic.

Balancing two disciplines wasn’t always seamless, but she developed an approach that blended creative and journalistic writing into something she sees as both impactful and necessary.

“The news can feel negative, and creative writing can feel like an escape,” Barlow said. “I’m interested in writing about our reality creatively in a way that is inspirational.”

Her photography, which began in eighth grade when her father bought a professional camera for family trips, follows a parallel track. What started as a hobby shooting landscapes and wildlife evolved into a way of connecting with people through her work at MSU. She has served as a photographer for the Honors College, The State News, and MSU’s official yearbook, the Red Cedar Log, where she also served as Marketing Outreach Coordinator.

“It’s at Michigan State where I found a connection with people through photography.”

“It’s at Michigan State where I found a connection with people through photography,” Barlow said. “I’ve been able to become part of so many communities, especially the Honors College as their student photographer. Capturing moments visually means a lot to people. Photography is still relevant and much needed in order to portray what’s happening around us in a visual, memorable way.”

For Barlow, writing and photography are distinct skills that serve a shared purpose. She draws a careful line between the two.

“I wouldn’t call myself a multimedia journalist. I call myself a writer and a photographer,” she said. “I see them as parallel experiences in trying to communicate an experience to others.”

Service and Global Perspective

In addition to being the student commencement speaker for the College of Arts & Letters ceremony, Barlow also was chosen as one of the two Honors College Graduation Reception speakers. The Honors College Graduation Reception is Friday, May 1, 2026, at 10 a.m. at the Breslin Student Events Center.

“If the College of Arts & Letters is a pillar in my education, then the Honors College is my guiding light,” she said.

Her first week on campus was spent doing community service through the Honors College’s HC IMPACT program, which brings incoming Honors College students to campus early to volunteer with organizations across the greater Lansing area.

“Starting off with community-engaged learning set the course for how I want to contextualize my career in terms of giving back and helping people,” Barlow said.

That experience led her to global volunteer work with GIVE Volunteers, an international volunteer organization. She has participated in GIVE Volunteers programs in Thailand and Hawaii.

“Having the global nonprofit leadership experience with GIVE Volunteers while studying it at MSU has been so impactful and meaningful to me.”

After the passing of her grandmother, who was from Thailand, Barlow wanted to reconnect with her heritage and give back to a country her grandmother loved. GIVE’s Thailand program offered a path for her to spend three weeks there in May 2024. She then continued volunteering with the program, including traveling to Hawaii last summer. This summer, she will return to Thailand with the GIVE Volunteers program and will also serve as a program guide for GIVE’s Hawaii cohort.

Barlow also maintains a volunteer internship with Allen Neighborhood Center, a nonprofit that is focused on neighborhood revitalization, food security, health, and economic development, and the same organization she first worked with during HC IMPACT her freshman year.

These experiences, along with guidance from Amy Lampe, Academic Advisor in the College of Arts & Letters, and Jennifer Marcy, Director of the Nonprofit Leadership, Global Cultures, and Social Enterprise M.A. and Certificate Programs in the Department of Religious Studies, led Barlow to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Global Nonprofit Leadership, which she plans to complete within a year of graduating.

“Having the global nonprofit leadership experience with GIVE Volunteers while studying it at MSU has been so impactful and meaningful to me,” Barlow said.

Mentors Along the Way

Two faculty members stand out in Barlow’s creative development. The first is Divya Victor, Associate Professor in the Department of English, whose creative nonfiction writing course was the first class Barlow took as a freshman.

“She taught me how to write in an authentic way, but also to challenge my authenticity as a writer, specifically with me writing about my culture as a Thai American and what it’s like writing about that in the diaspora,” Barlow said. “Having her as a mentor and seeing her work really helped me understand where my writing could go.”

The second is David Watson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures (WRAC), whose course on modern and contemporary literature pushed her to think differently about language and empathy.

“He taught me how to approach writing from being a human first rather than being a writer first,” Barlow said. “I owe a lot to him in challenging my perspectives as a writer and a student of literature.”

“That was one of the most impactful times for me as a writer, trying to understand where I come from and how I want that to present itself in my everyday life.”

A third formative class came last fall in an Advanced Creative Nonfiction Writing course taught by Michael Copperman, Assistant Professor in WRAC. Through an honors option, Barlow created a series of interconnected essays exploring her lineage and cultural background.

“It was very therapeutic,” Barlow said. “That was one of the most impactful times for me as a writer, trying to understand where I come from and how I want that to present itself in my everyday life.”

A Speech for Everyone

As she prepares to deliver her commencement address, Barlow is focused on representing her class.

“I don’t want the speech to focus on just me,” she said. “I want it to reflect our collective journeys that we’ve experienced together over the past four years.”

Barlow also wants to address the value of an arts and humanities education.

“These aren’t just soft skills, they are expandable skills. They’re human skills that allow you to do so many different things in your career, and they’re more flexible than hard skills,” Barlow said. “You learn how to not just be a worker, but how to be a human and a leader that is impactful in your career and in your life journey.”

Looking ahead, Barlow hopes to become a travel writer and photographer focused on purposeful storytelling.  

“I want to see the world, but not just as a tourist. I want to travel with a purpose,” she said. “That’s one of GIVE’s missions. I want to travel in a way that is respectful of cultures and gives back to the places that allow me to come and see their land, their culture, their people. The best way to share stories is to document it in a creative way and come back home and share it.”

As for any advice she would offer her freshman-year self?

“I wouldn’t tell her anything. I’m really proud of her,” she said. “I would just say, keep doing what you’re doing.”

MSU’s College of Arts & Letters commencement ceremony is Sunday, May 3, at 8:30 a.m. at the Breslin Student Events Center. For more information, including a livestream link, visit the MSU Commencement website.

By Austin Curtis and Kim Popiolek