Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address / page 3

Kamala Harris
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
U.S. Air Force Academy Commencement Address - May 30, 2024
May 30, 2024
Thank you. Thank you. [Applause.] Good morning. And congratulations to the cadets of Air Force Academy Class of 2024. [Applause and “ROY!”] To Secretary Frank Kendall, General Chance Saltzman, General David Allvin, Lieutenant General Richard Clark, and to all the friends and loved ones and sponsor families of these extraordinary graduates, thank you all for what you have done to support them in this journey. And, again, I applaud all that you have done every day. In 2020, as a United States senator, it was my privilege to nominate five […]
Jill Biden
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Erie County Community College Commencement Address - June 1, 2024
June 1, 2024
Thank you, President Gray. And good morning – I am honored to be with all of you today. “You shouldn’t go to college.” That’s what my high school guidance counselor told me. I was crushed. His assessment was that I wasn’t college material. He said, “If you don’t really know what you want to do next, college just isn’t right for you. You shouldn’t waste your time.” My whole life, I wanted to go to college. And now the person who was supposed to guide me there was saying that […]
Maria Ressa
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at Harvard University - May 23, 2024
May 23, 2024
Thank you, President Garber, and thank you, former President Gay, who called me last year to extend this offer. It's an incredible honor to address the distinguished Harvard faculty, the mysterious Harvard Corporation, and the loving friends and family who have traveled far and close to be here with you today. But wait, most of all, despite everything, because you worked really hard, I am so thrilled to congratulate the battle-tested graduates of the class of 2024. This was a harder speech to write than the Nobel lecture, you know, […]
Jen Psaki
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at George Washington University - May 19, 2024
May 19, 2024
Hi, everyone! Thank you, President Granberg and thank you to Chair Speights, Provost Bracey, and all of the professors and faculty, the mentors, the guides, the parents, the grandparents, the siblings and friends who are here today. Everyone is standing on your shoulders as they're receiving their degrees. And to Council Member Gray and Jon Ledecky—I look forward to swapping with you the appropriate way to brag about our new degrees with our family members, so I'm looking forward to that after the ceremony. And most of all—congratulations to the […]
Lori Trahan
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at Northern Essex Community College – May 18, 2024
May 18, 2024
Graduates, esteemed faculty, honored guests, and family: it is a privilege to be here at Northern Essex Community College for this year's commencement ceremony. Today is a day of celebration. It's a day to honor your tremendous accomplishments, your relentless perseverance, and your unmatched dedication to your studies and to yourselves. This moment is a culmination of years of hard work, sacrifice, and determination. You've dedicated countless early mornings spent in classrooms and late nights pouring over lessons, often while juggling jobs, kids, and the other commitments necessary to support […]
Shelley Moore Capito
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at Bethany College - May 11, 2024
May 11, 2024
Good morning. Good morning to everybody. Thank you, President Caridi for the wonderful comments and the…I'm a doctor now. I have to tell everybody in my family, call me Dr. Capito, please. Especially congratulations to the Class of 2024, and it is a real privilege for me to address you today. I would like to thank the Bethany Board of Trustees, who I've gotten to meet several. And what a dynamic group. I mean, when you see where they came from and they came to Bethany and they still are […]
Nancy Mace
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at the Citadel – May 4, 2024
May 4, 2024
Rep. Nancy Mace, the first female graduate of The Citadel, also became their first female commencement speaker at the 2024 ceremony Thank you, General and distinguished guests, friends of The Citadel, esteemed Board of Visitors, the president of The Citadel, the commandant of cadets and members of the class of 2024. Twenty-five years ago, I had the honor of sitting in one of those chairs that you're sitting in today, about to become the first woman to graduate from The Citadel Corps of Cadets. I was pale. I was nauseous. […]
Jill Biden
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Mesa Community College Commencement Address - May 11, 2024
May 11, 2024
Thank you, President Britt. Good morning – I am honored to be with all of you today. “You shouldn’t go to college.” That’s what my high school guidance counselor told me. I was crushed. His assessment was that I wasn’t college material. He said, “if you don’t really know what you want to do next, college just isn’t right for you. You shouldn’t waste your time.” My whole life, I’d wanted to go to college. And now the person who was supposed to guide me there was saying that I […]
Barbara P Bush
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at University of Pennsylvania - May 14, 1990
May 14, 1990
Thank you very, very much. Thank you very much, Provost Aiken, President Hackney, my very good friends Walter and Lee Annenberg. You know, like Ben Franklin, both Walter and Lee served as distinguished American Ambassadors. And like Franklin, both are great patrons of Pennsylvania. And like Franklin, half the things on the Penn campus are named after them. I want to congratulate also the families and the friends and the fans of all the students, and most of all, the University of Pennsylvania Class of 1990. I'm thrilled to be […]
Pat Schroeder
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Speech at the University of Pennsylvania - May 16, 1988
May 16, 1988
I remember being on the other side of this podium 27 years ago, sure that graduation speeches were though[t] up by the faculty who want you to sit through just one more lecture before getting your diploma. Congratulations to the graduating class of 1988. The diploma you have earned is quite an achievement. But as a parent of a son who is graduating from college this month, I want to also commend your families. They stood by you during your first exams, muffled their complaints when they got that huge […]