WesternU College of Pharmacy Commencement: Pioneers and beacons of care
Western University of Health Sciences College of Pharmacy (COP) celebrated 142 graduates, including two PharmD classes for the first and only time, at its Commencement ceremony at Sheraton Fairplex Suites & Conference Center in Pomona, California May 18, 2026.
COP conferred degrees on Master of Science in Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences (MSBPS) graduates and two cohorts of PharmD graduates. The Class of 2026 is the final cohort of the four-year PharmD program, and the Class of 2026A is the inaugural cohort of COP’s 3.5-year PharmD program.
“To our Master of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, you have endured an intensive curriculum in education and research,” said COP Dean Sunil Prabhu, BPharm, PhD. “Be proud of the fact that your background now allows you to become a pioneer of the next big find that will one day save many lives or even change the world.”
“To our Doctor of Pharmacy graduates, I leave you with this charge – a call to action and reminder of the immense responsibility and privilege that comes with the title you now carry,” Prabhu said. “You are not just pharmacists – you are pharmacist practitioners, you are problem solvers, you are patient safety advocates, and most importantly, you are now stewards of one of the most trusted professions in health care. Honor the values you have learned here – integrity, compassion, excellence, innovation and teamwork. They are the foundations of our profession and must guide you in every decision you take and every life you touch.”
Students from each program selected a classmate to serve as the graduate speaker for their class. MSBPS graduate Manjot Kaur told her classmates that they chose to pursue something difficult, “something that would ask more of us than we perhaps knew at the time. We chose a field where the work in the lab has the power to change a life in a clinic. That choice brought us here.”
“This journey was not always clean data and great results. There were weeks when nothing worked, moments at midnight staring at a screen, questioning your methods. And somewhere in those moments, we became scientists, the ones who think across boundaries, connecting biology to chemistry, data to meaning, and discovery to the human being waiting on the other side of it,” Kaur said. “To our graduating class: Carry your curiosity and never stop asking why because somewhere out there is a patient who does not know your name. But one day, the work that you do may save their life. And on the nights you almost gave up, you chose them, without even knowing it.”
PharmD Class of 2026 graduate Monica Aziz said she is the daughter of refugee immigrants who came to this country with nothing in their pockets except a hope that their daughters might live a life bigger than the one they left behind.
“They worked jobs that went unseen, they made sacrifices I will never fully understand, and they believed in a future they would never get to experience for themselves,” Aziz said. “And now, being the first in my family to hold a doctorate, I still don’t fully know how I got here. But I do know this: the dreams they carried forward became the foundation I now stand on.”
PharmD Class of 2026A graduate Melanie Nguyen said prior to attending WesternU, she volunteered at a mobile vaccination clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a small team of pharmacists delivered over 40,000 vaccines to rural communities, many of which were without a provider within a 20-mile radius.
“Watching those pharmacists in action, I saw the true power of our profession to bring compassionate, equitable health care to the farthest corners. For many of those, those pharmacists were lifelines and true beacons of care. And I remember hoping for the day I’d be part of a team that mighty,” Nguyen said. “Throughout pharmacy school, I’ve witnessed the same qualities I once admired in those pharmacists reflected in all of you. I’ve seen it in Bokyung’s unwavering commitment to excellence, in Parmis’ kindness, in Kulsoom’s natural command of a room, in Saira’s sharp intellect, in Jess’ ability to make a group of strangers feel like a family, and in all the unique gifts and talents my esteemed classmates bring with them. You have each inspired me more than you know, and I’m so excited to see what amazing paths we all find ourselves on after today.”
The PharmD Class of 2026 and Class of 2026A bonded in their time together on campus. The Class of 2026 started in fall 2022 and finished in May 2026. The Class of 2026A started in fall 2023 and will complete their program in late 2026.
“Even though we were on separate tracks and in separate classrooms, we have been able to talk to each other. Our class became mentors for the 2026A class,” said Class of 2026 graduate Andrew Hsieh. “Our involvement in extracurricular activities brought us together too.”
Class of 2026A graduate Justin Amouna said the Class of 2026 were great mentors when they were on campus together.
“I feel like it was really awesome to be able to ask them questions and advice on a lot of things,” Amouna said. “And it’s really honorable that we get to share graduation with them. It’s a really great feeling.”
Amouna said it’s an honor to be part of the first 3.5-year class, and he is happy to finish a semester early.
“It gives us a better opportunity to apply for residencies and jobs. We get to finish our licensing exam faster, so the fact that we get to be part of this more accelerated program gives us a lot of opportunities in the future with our career and our futures ahead,” he said.
He does have a few more clinical rotations to complete before finishing the program, but he sees that as a positive.
“The fact we get celebrate our graduation and see this milestone gives me more of a push to drive and do better and finish strong with my last few rotations and finishing board exams as well,” Amouna said.
