By Nancy Scuri
Campus News
As the spring semester fades into the sunset, graduating seniors put on caps and gowns and try to figure out how that hood works and with graduation season comes commencement speeches. Some are, well, not so fantastic. If you’re fortunate, you will receive words of wisdom from someone you don’t mind listening to in the middle of the football field for fifteen minutes, give or take. Let’s take a look at seven of the best commencement speeches so far.
1) Taylor Swift NYU Class of 2022: At the time of publication, Taylor Swift is on her mega “Eras” tour. In 2022, she gave a speech celebrating the journeys of the graduating class. Swift connects with her fellow Gen Z audience, their experiences trying to get through COVID lockdown, letting things go, and living with “cringe.”
“Never be ashamed of trying. Effortlessness is a myth. The people who wanted it the least were the ones I wanted to date and be friends within high school. The people who want it most are the people I now hire to work for my company.”
2) Ira Glass Columbia Journalism School Class of 2018: Ira Glass, the award-winning editor, writer, podcaster, and radio host at NPR, accepted the Columbia Journalism Award and addressed the graduating class. Glass advised the class to be unashamedly the best they could be, extoled the value of storytelling, and the vital importance of truth, telling the graduating class that as journalists, they would be “on the front lines” of the battle for accurate reporting.
“Commencement addresses are kind of a ridiculous form. I oppose them. It’s a kind of speech that’s doomed to failure. Because nothing can be said that is up to the task at hand. You are being launched from this training phase of your life into the vast exciting unknown that is to come in your life. What words can I or anyone else say to make that any better? Seriously. What poncey little speech makes the liftoff of a rocket better?”
3) Mary Schmich 1997: Who? You may not know Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, but you’ve probably heard the song “Wear Sunscreen.” The speech, often attributed to Kurt Vonnegut, was actually an article published in the Chicago Tribune on June 1, 1997. She presents her essay as the graduation speech she’d give if she ever had the opportunity. Although the article is 26 years old, the advice has held up better than most: Take care of yourself, value your loved ones, be discerning. And yes, put on that sunscreen.
“Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.”
4) George Saunders Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences Class of 2013: Award-winning American George Sanders gave the commencement speech at the University where he teaches creative writing. He talks about kindness and the regrets of failing to be kind.
“Since, according to me, your life is going to be a gradual process of becoming kinder and more loving: Hurry up. Speed it along. Start right now. There’s a confusion in each of us, a sickness, really: selfishness. But there’s also a cure. So be a good and proactive and even somewhat desperate patient on your own behalf—seek out the most efficacious anti-selfishness medicines, energetically, for the rest of your life.”
5) Billy Joel Stony Brook University Class of 2015: Long Islander Billy Joel, after fixing the microphone at the dais, addressed the graduating class of Stony Brook University. In his short address, his advice included being resilient, and sticking with the work that brings joy.
“I hope that by now, you have found what it is that you love. And I hope that you’ve learned the skills you need to make what you love your life’s work. I wish for you the commitment to make what you love. I wish for you the stamina to continue that work when you encounter resistance and tough times. If you’re not doing what you love, you’re just wasting your time.”
6) David Foster Wallace Kenyon College Class of 2005: Celebrated author David Foster Wallace addressed the graduating class of Kenyon College with what is widely considered one of the best commencement speeches of all time. The master storyteller gives his parable of fish and water to drive home the absolute necessity of compassion and the awareness it demands.
“But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving…. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day.”
7) Kermit the Frog Southampton College Class of 1996: Now part of Stony Brook University, Southampton College has long been known for its environmental and marine sciences program. Still, some were surprised to learn that the graduation speaker for the class of 1996 was none other than Kermit the Frog. Some were not so taken with having a Muppet give the speech. The New York Times quoted a graduating student who said “I’ve been here laboring for five years and now we have a sock talking at our commencement. It’s kind of upsetting.” Many in the audience embraced the moment, decorating their caps with “Kermit ’96.”
“When I was a tadpole growing up back in the swamps, I never imagined that I would one day address such an outstanding group of scholars. And I am sure that when you were children growing up back in your own particular swamps or suburbs, you never imagined you would sit here on one of the most important days of your life listening to a short, green talking frog deliver your commencement address. All of us should feel very proud of ourselves … and just a little bit silly.”
Nancy Scuri is a freelance writer and editor with over fifteen years of teaching experience at the college level. Have a writing question? You can reach her at nancyscuri.substack.com.
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