University announces Mia Hamm as 2025 Commencement speaker

Mia Hamm — who is widely regarded as one of the best women's soccer players in history — will return to her alma mater to deliver UNC's 2025 Commencement speech this spring, Chancellor Lee Roberts announced in a campus-wide email on Sept. 19.

Hamm will deliver the keynote address to UNC's graduates in Kenan Stadium on Saturday, May 10, at 7 p.m.

“She's a wonderful example of Carolina excellence, and we eagerly await the insights and advice she has for our graduates,” Roberts wrote in the email statement.

Hamm is one of UNC's most decorated alumna, leading the Tar Heels to four consecutive NCAA Championships from 1989 to 1993. She was named ACC Player of the Year during her last three years at North Carolina and ACC Female Athlete of the Year in 1993 and 1994. 

Hamm's career launched to the national stage as she won two Women's World Cups and two Olympic gold medals during her 17-year tenure with the U.S. women's national soccer team.

“She's one of my role models, and she's been one of my idols since I was a little kid,” Bella Sember, a senior forward on the UNC women's soccer team, said. “I think it's really exciting.”

Sember said while she is sad to be graduating in December, she hopes to attend the spring ceremony.

Emma Tyndall, a senior and member of Women in Sports Elevate at UNC, said she thinks Hamm will have wise pieces of advice to share in her speech.

“I told some of my friends that it was maybe the best possible choice [the University] could have made,” Tyndall said. “It's someone who's left a huge legacy at UNC and also isn't super polarizing in a time where a lot of speakers that they could have chosen could be potentially polarizing.” 

Hamm's extensive resume goes beyond the sport of soccer. She established the Mia Hamm Foundation in 1999 to raise funds and awareness for bone marrow and cord blood transplants after her brother, Garrett, died due to complications related to a rare bone marrow disease two years prior.

“It's really cool to see that she's going to be taking the stage for the entire class of [2025 at] UNC because I think she's a great person to speak on the future and what you can do with your life,” UNC junior defender Tessa Dellarose said.

Tucker Roberson, a senior and a president of the UNC men's club soccer team, said it is a weird feeling to realize he will be in the same place as Hamm – someone he considers a household name.

“When you get an experience like this, or a chance to hear Mia Hamm, it definitely adds some excitement and some value for me to want to actually attend Commencement and get something out of it,” Roberson said.

Graydon Martin, who is also a senior and president of the club soccer team, said he did not expect the Commencement speaker to be an athlete. He said he has respect for Hamm because of her accolades and how she progressed soccer in the U.S. and globally.

“I think it's an awesome opportunity, and I'm really excited to hear her speak and see what she has to say,” Martin said.

As an alumna of the University and the women's soccer program, Sember said Hamm is a trendsetter.

“We have traditions here, and not only to win, but to be good people and to have good character,” Sember said. “Just the grit and the fight that we show today, a lot of that started from her and what her teams were able to accomplish.”

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