The best day with you

The last time my mom, Gina Germano McNamara ’92, wore a cap and gown on the cushioned folding chairs on the floor of the University of Dayton Arena, it was December 1992. Her hair was a little bigger, her family in the stands a little smaller — just her mom and dad present.

This time, a new support system is here: my dad, John McNamara ’15; my two sisters; my grandmother; and, in spirit, my nonno, who passed in 2018. I’m here too, but today, I am not in the stands.

At this 2026 graduate commencement ceremony, the last name McNamara will be called twice —  because today we receive our master’s degrees together.

These past years we both spent working on our programs have been filled with late nights key-tapping on laptops and teaching her how to make PowerPoint presentations and format academic papers — all new aspects of education since her first time in UD’s classrooms.

And I owed her that help. I can’t forget the times she spent cheering at my soccer games and in the audience at my musicals or the money invested in my Catholic education. Her influence made me who I am today, so helping with APA format seems to pale in comparison.

She was the reason I chose UD, after all — and the push I needed to thrive here.

She was the reason I chose UD, after all — and the push I needed to thrive here.

When I arrived on campus in the thick of COVID-19 in 2020 as a commuter student, I admit that I was nothing short of scared. Scared of not making friends, not excelling academically and not finding my place here.

But my mom spoke fondly of her UD experience, one filled with supportive faculty willing to help her find a summer internship, basketball games and landlord house hijinks with great friends.

She was a first-generation college student, the daughter of an Italian immigrant who had to navigate higher education on her own. Now that was scary. I could face my fears, no matter how hard I had to work.

She practically grew up in my nonno’s restaurant, Franco’s on East Fifth Street near downtown Dayton, and knew early on that if you wanted something, you had to earn it. Manning the cash register at 14, taking orders and running out plates of steaming pasta to tables at 20, graduating with a bachelor’s degree at 22 — all of it took a specific, unrelenting grit and the determination to succeed.

So I applied for a campus job that was furthest outside my comfort zone, and got it. Suddenly, I was giving hour-long campus tours to strangers every day, something I would never have done the year prior. By senior year, I was president of that organization, graduating Magna Cum Laude and surrounded by my best friends and housemates whom I met freshman year.

When I was finally asked the dreaded “What do you want to do next?” I looked no further than my mother for inspiration.

During my junior year, she had set her sights on a new goal: a master’s degree in business administration from UD.

Enrolling meant that I would no longer be thinking about her past at UD; now I would be sharing her present as I pursued a master’s in public administration.

Two years later, as I now sit with my classmates, hearing the soft buzzing of nervous anticipation and donning my master’s regalia, the sweetness of this moment — this accomplishment — is unparalleled.

To share it with the woman...who ingrained in me the belief that I am capable of far more than I think I am — that feels like a beautiful ribbon tied on the top of a very meaningful gift.   

To share it with the woman who taught me to read, who taught me to drive in the parking lot of this very arena and who ingrained in me the belief that I am capable of far more than I think I am — that feels like a beautiful ribbon tied on the top of a very meaningful gift.   

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SYLVIA STAHL ’18

A version of this article appears in print in the Summer 2026 University of Dayton Magazine, Page 7. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE