Comments on: 7 Memorable Commencement Addresses

By: Lee

Lee — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:03:00 +0000

When I graduated with my M.S. from Colorado State in 1997, our university president wanted to have an all-university graduation in the football stadium, the only venue in town big enough to hold all the graduates and family & friends. Columnist Ellen Goodman was paid a fee to speak. Most of the graduates had no idea who she was, because they didn’t read newspapers except for the campus “rag”. She gave a good speech, but only about a third of the graduates came, so the football stadium was way too big. We were all baking in our black robes in the beating sun, and all we wanted was to get out of there.

The next year the president bowed to the storm of criticism he had received, and we went back to having several graduations, by college, indoors at whatever university ballroom, gym, or arena can hold the crowd. Each college now has to find its own speaker. Most are recruited by a harried professor on that college’s graduation committee, who has neither time nor resources to poll the students re whom they’d like.

By: Bri

Bri — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:11:00 +0000

I don’t think my class (Wheaton College 2008 – the original one in MA, not the religious one in IL) even considered a commencement speaker. One of the recipients of an honorary degree, who happened to be an alum, spoke and I honestly didn’t realize that is who our big COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER was until the ceremony ended and no one else (except the President – who spent the entire time talking about himself) spoke. What a disappointment (in both of them). I didn’t get anything out of her speech. I *think* she spoke on her own pursuits in life but I can’t be sure.

I wish they had at least considered asking the student body for suggestions on a speaker. My class leaders were inept and apparently only capable of harassing the student body for annual fund donations (literally tracking you down on campus and knocking on your door to ask why you had not donated yet).

By: DC

DC — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 05:11:00 +0000

Bono spoke at Harvard in 2001. But he did not sing.

By: ASM

ASM — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:03:41 +0000

Actually, Jon Stewart gave the commencement speech at William & Mary in 2004 …

And I graduated from W&M in 2006, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu as our commencement speaker.

By: P08

P08 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:22:36 +0000

Stephen Colbert spoke at Princeton’s Class Day 2008. The speech was done very smoothly in Colbert’s mock-conservative fashion. His message was that we should avoid changing the world, that his generation had worked hard at making it the way it is and they don’t want it fooled around with. Of course, the underlying message was that his generation had messed up a lot of things and that we ought to change the world, but his sarcastic method of delivery was very clever. I will remember it for the rest of my life.

By: w.

w. — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 01:38:28 +0000

I did not graduate from college….but I was a fireman. The graduation speaker was a deputy commissioner in the fire department; not very interesting on its face — but it was one of the best speaches I have ever heard — his grandfather had been a fireman in this department, and he was so thrilled to be able to give the speach (he was a last minute replacement) that he almost started crying!! He spoke for just the right amount of time….about 20 minutes, and praised the work, the people, and reminded us of the importance of the work, that it mights seem like great fun, but that we should never forget that we were doing something that very few people can do, but many wish they could, and that what we do helps people in a way they never can for themselves; in their most desperate hour of need….I left that day, and almost cried when I saw a fire truck on its way to a job.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:51:55 +0000

I went to a small, Catholic liberal arts college in Indiana and our speaker was from the school board of trustees or something like that – no meaning whatsoever to anyone in my class. No doubt I remembered as much of the words of wisdom the next day as I do now: nothing. And just to show you what a good impression our speaker made, I can’t even recall if it was a man or a woman.

Why couldn’t we have gotten – oh, say – Fr. Ted Hesburgh, formerly the head of the University of Notre Dame? Heck, having Kermit would have been cool!

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:22:52 +0000

When I finished graduate school at Boston University in 1989, our commencement exercises featured not one, but two, sitting presidents: George Bush I and French President Francois Mitterand.

I have no idea what either one said. We all had to be there about two hours early, sitting in our seats after going through security. Eventually, we watched as two very large military-type helicopters circled and landed somewhere outside the stadium. Then we waited awhile longer until they made it into the stadium. Then, and only then, could the long, boring commencement exercises start. It was a very warm, sunny day, and we were all cooked by the time it was done. The day was memorable only because of how miserable it was.

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:03:43 +0000

Fred Rogers game the commencement speech for my sister’s graduation at IUP in 1992. He opened with “It sure is a beautiful day in THIS neighborhood!” – Which was followed by about 5 minutes of standing ovation. Then the speech began. Epic.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:04:32 +0000

“What’s with the WVU student being disappointed with Fred Rogers? His message was essentially that success comes as the result of hard work. How is that message either shocking or disappointing?”

That person was probably a liberal who was disappointed that they actually had to work for something instead of the government giving it to them. You know, how dare someone have to earn something.