The University of Notre Dame and other schools hosted high-powered student commencement speakers... [+]
Politicians, billionaires, CEOs, and celebrities have been hitting campuses nationwide the last few weeks, as graduation season gives colleges the opportunity to host (and often the challenge of finding) a superstar guest commencement speaker.
While boasting big names can earn campuses some positive press, school presidents don’t need to look too far to find a high-powered graduation speech. Sometimes, the people who best hit the proverbial nail on the head are the ones who have carried the hammer the last four years.
The privilege of delivering a student commencement address is a tough one to earn. Some schools award the podium to the valedictorian, a student government officer or the winner of some school-specific award, while others host an application process and pick the best speech. Many honorees use the mic to tout their school pride, share stories of growth and make low-hanging jokes about not knowing “this acronym” or “that slang” as freshmen.
Yet, among the thousands of warm and relatable speeches, some words stand out as particularly inspirational, timely or touching. Here are a few of the biggest moments from the nation’s 2017 student commencement speakers:
C.J. Pine: University of Notre Dame, valedictorian
“As you and I leave this stadium, we must fight for others, for their unalienable rights, so that their future becomes their own. Our generation must stand against the scapegoating of Muslims. Our concern for freedom of religion must mean freedom for all religions, not just our own; otherwise none of us is free.”
Pine delivered this speech while sharing the stage with Vice President Mike Pence, whose administration has been criticized for its policies regarding some predominantly Muslim nations and whose presence prompted about 100 graduating students to walk out. Watch the full address here:
Ramona Morant: Bowie State University, Graduate Student Association president
“The Bible says, ‘Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.’ My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of our own 2nd Lieutenant, Richard Collins III. I pray that God will bless and give us the strength to get through this very difficult time.”
Morant spoke just a day after Collins III, a ROTC student who was commission to the Army the previous week, was slain on a neighboring campus as part of a potential hate crime. Watch the full address here (Morant’s speech begins around 1:15:30).
Grant Schroeder: University of California – Berkeley, University Medalist
“When violent protests accompanied the invitation of certain conservative speakers to campus, we had to ask, ‘How can we promote free speech and public safety at the same time.’ There is no clear answer to this question, yet our dedication to wrestling with pressing issues is why the rest of the world watches us. Free speech is not dead, and Berkeley is not a bubble. I would argue that it is a place of continual renaissance, where conflicting ideologies engage on the highest stage of intellectual rigor.”
Schroeder addressed the riots that sprang up on Berkeley’s campus in February in response to a planned appearance of then-Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos. Watch the full address here:
Jackson Adams: Middlebury College, chosen by committee
"Along the way, we've achieved some really amazing things. For instance, this year we proved definitively that global warming is a hoax. I mean, just look around. It's nearly June, and yet the media is still reporting that our campus is blanketed in liberal snowflakes."
Adams' joke was his speech's only reference to the protests and debate at Middlebury surrounding the invitation of controversial speaker Charles Murray. Watch Adams' speech here.
Yang Shuping: University of Maryland, chosen by committee
“Before I came to the United States, I learned in history class about the Declaration of Independence, but these words had no meaning to me: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I was merely memorizing the words to get good grades. These words sounded so strange, so abstract and foreign to me until I came to University of Maryland. I have learned the right to freely express oneself is sacred in America.”
Yang’s comments, comparing life in Maryland with life in her home nation of China, made headlines when social media outlets in China exploded with criticism. Watch the full address here.
Elizabeth Grady: University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, senior class president
“We are a class of many firsts… The first class to beat that school that school that shall not be named, eight miles down the road, by eight points, eight days after they bailed on us, and the first senior class to win a national championship in eight years. Sure seems like eight is our lucky number, doesn’t it?”
Grady addressed thousands of Tar Heels, whose men’s basketball team won the NCAA tournament this year. Watch the full address here (Grady’s speech begins around 2:06:55).
Maxwell Robidoux: Boston University, chosen by committee
“Billions of people live under oppressive authoritarian regimes that rule through disinformation and the prohibition of certain facts. In liberal democracies, slogans painted on campaign buses feature false promises. Websites traffic in fake news conspiracy theories. And executive spokespersons disseminate alternative facts. This type of discourse is entirely antithetical to the intellectual values that we have learned here at BU.”
Robidoux’s speech came amidst the global conversations surrounding “fake news” and tensions between President Donald Trump’s administration and the media. Watch the full address here (Robidoux’s speech begins at 47:35).
