by Shelby Clark, researcher at The Good Project
As the 2020 academic year comes to a close we at the Good Project, like many across the country, have been thinking about what it is like to graduate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of us have high school seniors of our own who have had to navigate what it means to graduate during a global pandemic, whereas others of us just grieve for those who have to celebrate #fauxmencement with friends. Yet, through it all, virtual commencement speeches still took place, and the annual deluge of advice was given.
Below are some of virtual commencement speeches we found interesting to watch this year. As you view them, how do you think the speakers view good work? What do they have to say about the ideas of ethics, engagement, and excellence?
Dr. Fauci’s speech at Johns Hopkins
In his short introductory speech to the 2020 Johns Hopkins graduates, Dr. Fauci reminds the new graduates that as they move into the future they will need to draw on their talent, energy, resolve, and character in order to adapt to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He urges the graduates to go out and “enhance global society.”
Oprah Winfrey’s #graduation2020 speech on Facebook
Oprah reminds the class of 2020 that “never has a graduating class been called to step into the future with more purpose, vision, passion, energy, and hope.” She tells the graduates to think about how they want to define success, but reminds that that “inequality is a pre-existing condition” and that graduates have the power to vote for healthier conditions for all. After applauding those offering essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic, she leaves the graduates with the question: “What will your essential service be?”
President Barack Obama’s 2020 commencement speech for #graduatetogether
President Barack Obama wants 2020’s graduates to know that they get to decide what is important to them and what values they want to live by. But, he reminds them, they need to “ground themselves in values that last.” He too urges this year’s graduates to think about how they can make the world better, noting that “If the world’s gonna get better, it’s gonna be up to you.” However, he reminds this year’s graduates that they can do this only through building community: “no one does big things by themselves.”
Bill and Melinda Gates from I Heart Radio’s Commencement: Speeches for the class of 2020
Bill and Melinda Gates’ commencement speech echoes many themes of President Barack Obama’s. Like the President, they urge 2020’s graduates to remember “If you want to get things done, you need a team.” They too remind this year’s graduates that they “do have a role to play in improving the world… progress didn’t happen by accident.” A main theme of their speech, though, was the creativity and “shared mission” that the world will need in order to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. They tell this year’s graduates that the world will need innovators and “ingenuity as we recover,” and that this years graduates can bring their skills to bare in bringing this future about.
Mathew McConaughey on Good Morning America
Matthew McConaughey spoke with a group of graduates from the Urban Assembly School for Emergency Management-- graduates who will immediately be joining the workforce as essential employees during the global pandemic. He shared with them some of his advice for living, noting that “we all have a role to play in making this world a better place.” McConaughey reminded the graduates to “act in ways you’ll respect tomorrow” and to not “be afraid to fail,” noting later “how do we ever know what was right if we didn’t screw up.” In total, he reminds the graduates, “just keep living.”
What were some of your favorite commencement speeches this year? Let us know in the comments.