Speeches / page 20

Nadia Murad
categories: Acceptance Speech, Speeches
Nobel Lecture - December 10, 2018
December 10, 2018
Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, Distinguished Members of the Committee, Ladies and Gentlemen, my warm greetings to you. I would like to thank The Nobel Committee for bestowing this honour on me. It is a great honour to have been awarded this valuable prize with my friend Dr Denis Mukwege, who has been working tirelessly to help victims of sexual violence and to be a voice for those women who have been subjected to violence. I want to talk to you from the bottom of my heart and to […]
Terri Sewell
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Princeton University Class Day Remarks - May 29, 2023
May 29, 2023
To the mighty, unprecedented class of 2023—congratulations! [cheers and applause] To President Eisgruber, to the board of directors and trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, parents, friends, and all who are assembled—good morning. It is indeed overwhelming for me to return home to Princeton as your 2023 Class Day speaker. As I look across the audience, I can't help but remember my own college graduation. For me, college was an exciting and transformational time in my life. College was what I call the wonder years. You know—I wonder if my classmate likes […]
Diana DeGette
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at Colorado College - May 22, 2000
May 22, 2000
Thank you, President (Kathryn) Morhman. I am moved by that wonderful introduction. I've never regretted that decision the Board of Trustees made in 1992. I think Colorado College's history will show Kathryn to be maybe the best president we've ever had, and I think we're all honored to have her. I especially want to thank the class of 2000 for inviting me back today as your commencement speaker even after you had to suffer through my opening convocation speech several years ago. I am deeply honored by this, and I'm […]
Elizabeth “Liz” Cheney
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Colorado College Commencement Address - May 28, 2023
May 28, 2023
During Cheney’s address, some graduating students turned their chairs around to face away from Cheney in protest of her conservative positions on issues such as abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and voting rights. [cheers and applause] President Richardson, trustees, faculty, administrators, parents, family members, and class of 2023. Congratulations on this wonderful day. It’s an honor to be here with most of you to celebrate this tremendous accomplishment. I can honestly say that all of those things that mean the most to me in this world, I owe to Colorado College. My […]
Ketanji Brown Jackson
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at Boston University School of Law - May 21, 2023
May 21, 2023
Good morning. Thank you for that very kind and generous introduction, Dean Onwuachi-Willig, and for inviting me to be here with all of you to celebrate this truly momentous occasion. To the class of 2023, congratulations on this magnificent achievement! [applause] And to the family members and friends who have encouraged these graduates and have helped them to get to where they are today, congratulations to you as well! [applause] As I traveled here from Washington, D.C., yesterday evening, I started to think about the moment a couple of years […]
Kathy Hochul
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
New York Law School Commencement Address - May 25, 2023
May 25, 2023
Dean Crowell, thank you for the honor of joining this enthusiastic crowd. I've been listening to you from behind the stage. I think they can hear you all over New York City because you're so excited today. And thank you for your extraordinary leadership team during, as you mentioned, rather unprecedented times and for the support of a strong board led by Arthur Abbey and all the members of the trustees, the incredible faculty. I also had a chance to listen to Nelson Melgar Martinez, his remarks and his love […]
Ayanna Pressley
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology Commencement Address - May 18, 2019
May 18, 2019
Let me take a moment and collect myself a bit here. I found myself, something I've done throughout my life, standing on this stage with my head bowed and I could hear my mother from on high saying, Ayanna, lift your head.” I'm very humbled to receive this honor and to be wearing this cap and gown for reasons I'll share in a moment in my more formal remarks. I never attained a four-year degree and so this is the first time I get to wear a cap and gown […]
Ayanna Pressley
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
University of Massachusetts Boston Commencement Address - May 31, 2019
May 31, 2019
Good morning. [crowd responds, “Good morning.”] Thank you for this very humbling award. I accept it not for the work I've already done but as a renewed commitment to the work that we will do together in the future. Thank you to the University of Massachusetts Boston. Thank you to President Meehan. Thank you to Chancellor Emeritus Keith Motley [applause]. Thank you to Chancellor Newman, the trustees, alumni, faculty, the staff, and every person who previously and currently contributes to this unique institution, from Charlie Titus to Phil Carver, the […]
Ayanna Pressley
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at Boston University - May 16, 2021
May 16, 2021
Thank you so much President Brown and Chairman Feld for this distinctive honor. I wish to dedicate this honorary degree to my ancestors. I know I am their wildest dreams. To my mother, may she rest in peace and power. She prayed so many prayers into me, poured so much into me. And to my father, who despite his entanglement with the criminal legal system, did attain two advanced degrees and went on to become a professor of journalism and a published author. And I also dedicate this degree to […]
Ketanji Brown Jackson
categories: Commencement/Baccalaureate/Convocation Address, Speeches
Commencement Address at American University Washington College of Law - May 20, 2023
May 20, 2023
Good afternoon. [audience responds, “Good afternoon.”] Thank you so much, Dean Fairfax, for that wonderful introduction. Thank you, President Burwell, the Board of Trustees, for the tremendous honor of being given an honorary degree. It is a pleasure for me to be here with all of you today and to welcome the class of 2023 into the legal profession. To all of the graduates—congratulations, you did it! [cheers and applause] You should be extremely proud of this huge accomplishment. To all of the friends and family members who have encouraged […]