Every year, college seniors anxiously await the announcement of their graduation speakers for the traditional commencement address, intended to give students advice about entering the “real world.” If you are lucky, your college may manage to snag a big name celebrity to speak at your ceremony. Each year these famous faces offer humorous, touching and often extremely useful advice about their own paths to success and how to survive life after college. This year was no different, with a star-studded batch of speakers including Oscar-winning actors, a national news anchor, a celebrated filmmaker and even the First Lady. Without further ado, we bring you the best celebrity commencement addresses of 2015.
Stephen Colbert – Wake Forest University
Colbert has delivered speeches in the past for graduates, but this one was the best yet; it was quippy, smart and filled with local color for this North Carolina private university. The best quote of the speech: “You did it, and you look amazing. Although it’s a little embarrassing, you all showed up in the same outfit. Really, even all the accessories are the same: everyone has a black and gold tassle. Or… Is it blue and white? Grandparents, just know this was the issue that divided a generation. You had the Vietnam War, your grandchildren had an ambiguously colored Tumblr post.”
Maya Rudolph – Tulane University
Tulane has had the privilege to enjoy several celeb speakers in the past, so grads’ expectations were set pretty high. But former SNL star Maya Rudolph did not disappoint! She gave one of the most hilarious commencement speeches of the season. After the ceremony opened with an a cappella tribute to her, Maya dove right in with the jokes. We laughed the hardest at: “I stand here humbled, gracious… and completely naked under this robe,” followed by a wink and a few eyebrow raises. Her best quote of the speech, though, was: “If I must give any of you advice, it would be this: say yes. Say yes. And? And create your own destiny.”
Michelle Obama – Tuskegee University
Michelle Obama is incredible, in case you weren’t already aware. From advocating a healthy lifestyle for the youth of America to making guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, she succeeds at everything she does and carries herself with grace and style that we can’t get enough of. Her commencement speech at this private university was inspiring. She held nothing back in her sharp rebuttal of race relations, her nod to the Tuskegee Airmen, and the historical significance of the school in the African American narrative. Her best quote: “I have learned that if I hold fast to my beliefs and follow my own moral compass, then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own.”
Robert De Niro – New York University Tisch School of the Arts
A New York City native and a fellow thespian, De Niro quietly (and with that straight-faced, sarcastic humor we all love) doled out by far the best line of the graduation speech season, and one that most all artists will relate to: “Tisch graduates: you made it! …And you’re f***ed.” After those stirring words of “encouragement,” De Niro reminded the graduating seniors that their lives might not be easy, but they should be proud that they chose to follow their passion in life.
David Muir – Northeastern University
Muir gave two particularly heartfelt pieces of advice. The first: “All along the way in life, we’re all going to reach ‘doorways,’ if you will. We’re all tested at those doorways, and there’s excitement not unlike what you’re feeling today, but also the fear of what could come next. And so I’m here to say today that you embrace that fear, because it simply reminds all of us that we are the lucky ones in this world, because we’re being given the opportunity to explore what comes next.” And the second:”Even with the fear of what comes tomorrow, you all have a voice in this room. And now, after you’ve graduated, a responsibility to use it for those who are unable to use theirs.” He ended the speech by using the popular app Periscope to broadcast the graduates live to the world with the caption, “Here they come!”
Ken Burns – Washington University at St. Louis
Burns quoted Mark Twain, then delved into an insightful (and at times difficult) look at our history. Burns reminded the graduates that while many may claim that as humans we are doomed to repeat our own mistakes, that is in fact as far from the truth as possible. As he put it, “History is not a fixed thing, a collection of precise dates and facts and events, even cogent commencement quotes that add up to a quantifiable certain confidently known truth. It is a mysterious and malleable thing, and each generation rediscovers and re-examines that part of its past that gives its present and, most important, its future new meaning, new possibilities and new power.”
Matthew McConaughey – University of Houston
We suppose that this speech wasn’t entirely unexpected from the man who brought us those bizarre Lincoln commercials, but this Oscar-winning actor delivered a strange, yet undeniably inspirational speech to the Class of 2015. McConaughey choose to break the norm, wearing a white shirt and black slacks and sitting on a stool as he spoke, rather than wearing the traditional cap and gown behind a podium. He used the screen behind him to point out certain truths that he held close to his heart throughout his journey to success. He didn’t sugarcoat anything or bother with flattery, but rather elected to face the graduates with the honest realities of the life they were embarking on, and we respect that (even if it made the speech at times slightly cringe-worthy). The best quote: “‘Unbelievable’ is the stupidest word in the dictionary.” To understand why, you’ll have to watch the speech!
Thank you to all of the commencement speakers listed here for inspiring not just the graduates at each of these universities but all of us with your meaningful, funny and heartfelt speeches. And congratulations to the graduates of the Class of 2015!