It’s that time of year again, when politicians, pundits, media, and newsmakers wax poetic to graduating classes who will not remember a thing they said. Luckily, these commencement speeches are on video for us to enjoy and, where we can, take away something of use. Here are a couple of commencement speeches we’ve seen linked online. Please add your favorites to the comments and we’ll keep updating this post.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA — BARNARD UNIVERSITY
“Of course, as young women, you’re also going to grapple with some unique challenges, like whether you’ll be able to earn equal pay for equal work; whether you’ll be able to balance the demands of your job and your family; whether you’ll be able to fully control decisions about your own health.
And while opportunities for women have grown exponentially over the last 30 years, as young people, in many ways you have it even tougher than we did. This recession has been more brutal, the job losses steeper. Politics seems nastier. Congress more gridlocked than ever. Some folks in the financial world have not exactly been model corporate citizens”
BRIAN WILLIAMS (NBC) — GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams criticized Washington lawmakers during a commencement address this weekend.
“Our politics are broken,” he told the graduating class at George Washington University. “Remember, there’d be no constitution in this country without compromise. We wouldn’t have been formed without compromise. Going without compromise makes you a highly principled person, but it can often lead us to a government that is not attuned to the needs of the people.”
