There’s nothing better than a good commencement speech (except maybe a nice, expensive dinner paid for by Mom and Dad). The University of Oregon has had its fair share, from Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy to the ever-elusive TBD, who as of press time was scheduled to speak at Matt Knight Arena for the general ceremony on June 16. Here are some of the best commencement speeches from around the country in recent years:
The author of the Harry Potter books spoke at Harvard University on June 5, 2008. Less than one year after she finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the former British billionaire — the first author to reach a 10-figure net worth — gave Harvard grads a talking-to on the virtues of failure.
“So given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.”
The 35th president of the United States gave two commencement speeches in his time as the commander-in-chief — once at Yale in 1962 and at American University the following year. In his latter speech, Kennedy stressed the fact that graduates have the power to overcome any problem they face.
“Our problems are man-made. Therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable — and we believe they can do it again.”
As the second season of Parks and Recreation was winding down, Harvard hosted Poehler as its speaker. There’s something to say about a commencement speech that’s equal parts comedy and inspiration and Poehler knocked it out of the park. The best part about this speech is its reinforcement of something your teachers have been telling you since Day One: There are no stupid questions.
“Even though, as a class, you are smart, you are still allowed to say, ‘I don’t know.’ Just because you are in high demand, you are still allowed to say, ‘Let me get back to you.’ This will come in handy when your parents ask when you plan to move out of their basement and you answer, “I don’t know. Let me get back to you.” Which leads me to my final thought: would it kill you to be nicer to your parents?”