Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address / page 5

Margaret Chase Smith
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at Westbrook Junior College - June 15, 1983
June 25, 1953
You young women are on the threshold of the finest years of your life. Make the best of those years, not only for yourselves but for your families, your friends, and your country as well. Make better use of those years than has the generation preceding you. Give the young women who follow you a heritage of peace instead of the world of suspicion, aggression, treason, character assassination and moral delinquency that has been thrust upon you by the older generation that has preceded you. Show them the way to […]
Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Courage: Its Commencement and Challenge - June 3, 1964
June 3, 1964
It is a great pleasure for me to be here at this historical and lovely school which was founded in 1799—one year before the City of Washington. This is a most important day in your lives. For me this ceremony has an added dimension—a sentimental one. The President and I have shared the joys and strengths of long time friendship with the proud parents of Beth Jenkins. Today is, therefore, a very special and proud day for us too. And to you parents who have given so much in devotion […]
Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
The Total Woman: Baccalaureate Address at Radcliffe College - June 9, 1964
June 9, 1964
It is four years since that anxiously-awaited envelope postmarked "Cambridge, Massachusetts" arrived in your home. This day marks the culmination of those years. You have struggled, groaned and grown within the demanding and rigorous intellectual life of this remarkable institution, and here you are today—ready to turn your knowledge and skills to new fields. But with all your perception, with all your brainpower, I wonder if you know how great is the pride in you of those who are in this hall today? What can I say to make you […]
Kathy Hochul
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at Syracuse University - Sept. 19, 2021
September 19, 2021
Gov. Hochul gave this address at Syracuse University’s “makeup” commencement ceremony for their 2020 graduates. Chancellor, it's always a little embarrassing when someone reads all those jobs. It sounds like I can't hold down a job, doesn't it? Oh, well, oh, well. Chancellor Syverud, I want to thank you for the extraordinary leadership that is the hallmark of your administration. I know a little bit about chancellors, I've had a few run ins with chancellors, I'll get to some of my stories in a few moments, but I want to […]
Sandra Day O’Connor
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Stanford University Commencement Speech: The Individual Often Does Make A Difference In Society - June 16, 1982
June 16, 1982
First. I want to say hello to the class of 1982. You are the people who asked mo to be with you today. My presence here reflects that there are some offers that even supreme court justices can't refuse. Yours was one of them. Thank you for asking me to share your day with you. Thank you, Don Kennedy, for your kind words and thoughts and thank you, dear friends of Stanford and of the graduates, for being here today for this wonderful celebration. As I stand here and look […]
Maria Ressa
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Graduates Day Remarks at Vanderbilt University - May 11, 2023
May 11, 2023
Ressa received Vanderbilt University’s prestigious Nichols-Chancellor’s Medal in 2023, and spoke at the university's Graduates Day event. Thank you Chancellor Diermeier, Provost Raver, members of the board, faculty…oh my gosh…Ed and Janice Nichols…and hello, class of 2023. [applause] Congratulations! I mean, you know, you have to like fill these moments, you know. Just stop a second.… Well first of all, while I was sitting back there I was thinking, oh my god, like when the rain started, I was like—this is a perfect metaphor for our world today, but let […]
Elizabeth Warren
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
UMass Boston Commencement Address - May 25, 2023
May 25, 2023
Good morning, UMass Boston! Congratulations! [cheers and applause] It is such an honor to be with you today. I want to begin by thanking the chancellor and the Board of Trustees for inviting me to join you today. Now,he chancellor explained to me that UMass Boston wanted a record breaking, movement inspiring, creative thinker for commencement speaker…unfortunately Taylor Swift was not available. So we’ll all just have to shake-shake-shake it off! Congratulations, Graduates! You have worked hard and you have earned this day, so rub it all over yourself, roll […]
Kamala Harris
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point - May 27, 2023
May 27, 2023
Vice President Harris was the first woman to deliver a commencement address at West Point. Good morning. To the members of Congress: Senator Jack Reed, Congressman Steve Womack, and Congressman Pat Ryan. To the Secretary of the Army, Christine Wormuth; Chief of Staff of the Army, General James McConville; and Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, Lieutenant General Steven Gilland. And to the soldiers and officers, and faculty and staff, and distinguished guests: It is an honor — truly an honor — to be with all of you this […]
Nadia Murad
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at Pitzer College - May 13, 2023
May 13, 2023
Good morning, class of 2023. Good morning, parents, teachers and everyone here who has supported these students through kindergarten, classroom, and finally to commencement. What an achievement. I am delighted and honored to be giving the address today. I hope that over the next few minutes I can offer you some words of advice and encouragement as you wave goodbye to college and head out onto life's open road. People often ask me what it takes to be an activist, young people in particular—people like you with passion, with convictions, […]
Nadia Murad
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at Chapman University - May 20, 2022
May 20, 2022
Greetings, faculty, staff, students, friends, and families. It is wonderful to be celebrating here with you today. I would like to thank President Struppa for your leadership, shaping an institution that is so committed to the pursuit of knowledge, that supports social and international justice. I'm looking forward to staying involved with the university and its remarkable students and faculty in the years to come. Thank you, Dean Keene, for warm welcome this week and all the faculty and staff who have supported this and other events I have been […]