Over the weekend I had the displeasure of attending a favorite niece’s graduation from high school, the usual experience we would only wish our enemies. Decided to compile a list of famous commencement speeches to see if anyone has ever been entertained at a graduation ceremony, so see those videos below.
Famous Commencement Speeches
Meanwhile I wish my dear niece all the good blessing of life so that she may live it fulfilled, productive, and prosperous. I will get over the latest invitation and horror of sitting through a litany of immature high school students and underachieving faculty attempting to impress their captive audience.
View my video choices below and cast your vote in the comments. Is your favorite the why-am-I-here Dolly Parton Commencement speech at the University of Tennessee? The hilarious Will Ferrell commencement speech at Harvard, or perhaps you prefer the Ali G commencement speech at the same school one year later in which he was arrested. The entirely droll Bono commencement speech at University of Pennsylvania? Or add your own to the list.
Lists compiled by others including Winston Churchill’s speech at the Harrow School. This one includes Steve Jobbs speech at Stanford University. This other one includes author Russell Baker at Connecticut College.
Nobody will be adding the Barack Obama commencement speech at Notre Dame to any list. We said famous, not infamous. Obama’s address was controversial and underperformed expectations. Although it was received wildly by the young crowd, the text reads much like the shallow speeches we hear in all high school graduations and it distracted from the occasion. The attempts at humor were weak, the message muddled, and the soaring rhetoric empty and caricatured in the circumstances.
Nobody will be adding the George Bush famous commencement speeches to the list either. Although he managed to avoid controversy to the benefit of the graduates, the speeches were just as dull as Obama’s.
So view the videos, add to the list, and cast your vote. Our readers await your judgment.
Will Farrell: Commencement Speech Video
Dolly Parton: Commencement Speech Video
Ali G: Commencement Speech Video
May 25th, 2009 at 4:27 am
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May 25th, 2009 at 7:27 am
The tradition of asking persons of distinction to address the graduating class is a time honored practice. However, not all guests are complimentary to the essence of the core values of the institution (Will Farrell) and can even be downright insulting and degrading (Ali G). I was very pleased with the UT commencement that invited the Governor of Tennessee and their premiere star performer, Dolly Parton. She continues to stun me with her charm, honest sense of self, presence of mind and God given and well applied talent. Especially considering the thread-bare upbringing she endured, playing with the stick and can on her make believe stage, to filling ketchup bottles and going hungry, she is so far above the average man, because she is who she has become through hard work, focus of belief and tenacity of purpose to achieve. Now having gained that success we all can see, she doesn’t flaunt it, but now gives it back from $500 checks to graduating students to free books to children accross the country and world. She is truely a model we should all strive to emmulate.
Then we have those like GW Bush and Obama, who occupy stages and pontificate and bloviate with purpose of self elevation with apparant disregard of the essence of the focus of the graduating class they have been invited to speak to. These politicians, shallow punks or mediocre comedians stand in stark contrast to the humble country girl, made famous through her own hard work who shares her personal gifts.
Idiots and morally deficient examples like Ali G and others who try to emulate incarcerated criminals and thugs have no place in intelligent society. They would be best honored holding a number below their pierced and tattooed faces when they have to face forward then left and then right.
May 25th, 2009 at 8:52 am
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