The Gatepost Editorial: A bittersweet commentary

By The Gatepost Editorial Board

On March 25, President Nancy Niemi announced via email that the 2026 Undergraduate Commencement speaker will be Nelson Peña de Jesús, president of Global Culinary Kitchen at Nestlé. 

Niemi cited Framingham State’s connection to the chocolate chip cookie as the reason Peña de Jesús is a “sweet” choice for a commencement speaker. 

Ruth Graves Wakefield, Class of 1924, invented the chocolate chip cookie and became a Framingham State legend for the global impact of her invention. 

Wakefield had a passion for cooking. She and her husband, Kenneth, started the Toll House Inn, where Wakefield invented the chocolate chip cookie, which she called the “Toll House Crunch Cookie,” according to the Henry Whittemore Library Blog.  

This is the recipe Wakefield gave to Nestlé, as well as the Toll House name, in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate and the inclusion of the cookie recipe on the back of every package of chocolate chips - something that is still done today. 

Wakefield’s invention and its impact have a lasting effect not only here at home but on the global community, and her legacy is not to be ignored. Honoring her is important. 

However, this commencement speaker is not the best or most appropriate way to do that. 

While The Gatepost Editorial Board acknowledges Peña de Jesús himself will be a great speaker, he is representing a company with a historically troubling past.

Nestlé has a long history of using forced labor and child labor, as well as paying agricultural workers unfair wages in West Africa and China. According to the Harvard Law School’s Systemic Justice Project (SJP), Nestlé has repeatedly tried to sell the narrative that their use of child labor is “not as bad as it looks.” The company maintains that these children are working to help their parents. 

Is this how we want to honor a great alumna inventor's legacy? Choosing a president of one of Nestlé’s divisions as a commencement speaker is essentially a statement that the University endorses this company. 

Commencement speakers are not mere figureheads. They reflect our morals, values, and mission as a University, and should be individuals who can relate to our students. Many members of our community do not stand for this corporation's recent actions. 

If we truly want to honor Wakefield’s, why not invite a new female inventor, an alumna, or explore other connections to Wakefield?

Framingham State has had no shortage of commencement speakers who reflect our University’s values. The late U.S. Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis spoke in 2019. U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley spoke in 2023. 

Just last year, NBC Boston News Anchor Latoyia Edwards gave an inspirational speech at the 2025 Undergraduate Ceremony. Her commitment to the truth is deeply rooted in our University’s values, and her background and experiences are relatable to many students. 

Why are we choosing to step away from that precedent this year?

Niemi wrote in her email that the connection to this speaker is “close to home.” This is a forced tie between the alumna who invented the chocolate chip cookie and a billion-dollar corporation that bears almost no weight on our community.

Her statement feels like a half-baked way to thread the needle between Framingham State and a company headquartered in Switzerland. 

We can do better. University administrators need to take accountability for what they are endorsing.