commencement speech

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Class Prez's Diploma Withheld Over Graduation Speech

Marvin Wright read his own speech instead of one written by school

(Newser) - A senior class president in North Carolina was "hurt and embarrassed" when the principal withheld his diploma because he refused to read a graduation speech written by administrators, the Washington Post reports. Marvin Wright, 18, spent weeks working on his commencement address. But when the big day came, Principal...

What Clinton Called a 'Con' in Commencement Speech

The new Trump budget, Hillary said at alma mater Wellesley

(Newser) - Nearly 50 years ago this month, a young Hillary Rodham delivered Wellesley College's student commencement speech . On Friday, Hillary Rodham (now with a "Clinton" tagged onto the end) addressed graduating students there for the third time—she also spoke at commencement in 1992, when she was first lady,...

Notre Dame Grads Silently Walk Out on Pence

Stood up and exited as vice president began his address

(Newser) - Dozens of graduates and family members—about 150 of them, per one report—silently stood and walked out Sunday as Vice President Pence began his address at Notre Dame's commencement ceremony. Pence, the former governor of Indiana, was invited to speak after Notre Dame students and faculty protested the...

Trump Urges Liberty U Grads to Stand Up to Criticism

Trump delivered 1st commencement speech as president to Christian school

(Newser) - Delivering his first commencement address, President Trump on Saturday urged graduates of a Christian university to follow their convictions but to also be willing to stand up to criticism from others who don't have the courage to do what is right. The AP reports Trump kept to an upbeat...

Zuck Giving Commencement Speech at University He Dropped Out Of

Mark Zuckerberg will speak at Harvard in May

(Newser) - Mark Zuckerberg is headed back to Harvard, but this time he'll be giving the commencement speech, the AP reports. The Ivy League school announced Tuesday that the Facebook CEO and Harvard dropout was chosen to address students at a May 25 graduation ceremony on the Cambridge campus. Harvard President...

Obama Tells Class of 2016 US Is 'Better Place' Than When He Graduated

But they still have 'plenty of work to do'

(Newser) - President Obama said Saturday that the country is "a better place today" than when he graduated from college more than 30 years ago, citing his historic election as "one indicator of how attitudes have changed," the AP reports. Obama delivered the commencement address to the Class of...

Graduation Morphs Into a Taylor Swift Flash Mob

NH valedictorian Colin Yost leads surprise senior jam to 'Shake It Off'

(Newser) - Parents who thought they were going to have to sit through a boring graduation in a stuffy gym got anything but at Portsmouth High School on Friday. Colin Yost, the valedictorian for the New Hampshire school's senior class, decided he wanted to shake things up—and off—during his...

College Also Dropping $9.5K on Private Jet for McConaughey

And possibly a "VIP Presidential" hotel suite

(Newser) - The Matthew McConaughey/University of Houston brouhaha continues: McConaughey is giving the commencement speech at the school Friday, and it earlier emerged that UH is paying him $135,000 to do so. Now it turns out that on top of that, the school is paying $9,500 so that McConaughey can...

Outrage as College Picks Cop-Killer as Grad Speaker

Mumia Abu-Jamal to give prerecorded speech at Goddard College

(Newser) - A small Vermont college has chosen a highly controversial commencement speaker: Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of killing a Philadelphia cop in 1981. Officer Daniel Faulkner's widow calls the move "despicable," Fox News reports: "It seems like our justice system allows murderers to continue to have...

Obama to UC Students: Time to Take on Climate

President announces $1B natural-disaster fund

(Newser) - Offering a commencement address at UC Irvine today, President Obama sought to energize students for the fight against climate change. "The question is not whether we need to act,” the president said, noting that any debate has been "put to rest." "The question is whether...

Abramson: I'm Keeping My Times Tattoo

Ousted editor speaks at Wake Forest commencement

(Newser) - Now that she's out at the New York Times, will Jill Abramson remove the tattooed logo of its "T" from her back? "Not a chance," she told students during a Wake Forest University commencement speech, which, Politico notes, was her first public appearance since her firing...

Commencement Speaker Blasts 'Immature' Students

He slams students for forcing original speaker to cancel

(Newser) - This year's commencement speaker at Pennsylvania's Haverford College used his speech to blast students for causing the original speaker to cancel. Dozens of students and three professors had protested the choice of former UC Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau over his handling of an Occupy protest in 2011, the...

Holder: Forget 'Hateful Rants,' Real Racism Lurks Quietly

Cites disparities in sentencing, voting, education as far more damaging

(Newser) - Eric Holder dismissed the likes of Donald Sterling and Cliven Bundy and their very public brouhahas, and focused on "policies that disenfranchise specific groups" as "more pernicious than hateful rants." His commencement speech yesterday at Baltimore's Morgan State University marked his most pointed commentary on race...

After Protests, Condoleezza Rice Cancels Rutgers Address

She was supposed to give the commencement speech later this month

(Newser) - Rutgers needs a new commencement speaker in a hurry. Condoleezza Rice announced today that she is withdrawing from the May 18 ceremony after students and faculty protested her selection, reports the National Review . "Commencement should be a time of joyous celebration for the graduates and their families," said...

Obama to Military: Sexual Assaults Making You Weaker

President addresses Naval Academy commencement

(Newser) - Barack Obama gave the commencement address at the US Naval Academy today, and he used the occasion to talk about the military's issues with sexual assault . The perpetrators of sexual violence "threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong," Obama said, according to USA Today...

Hopkins Doc Ditches Grad Speech in Gay Marriage Storm

Bestiality comparison enraged students

(Newser) - Neurosurgeon and rising conservative star Ben Carson is following through with his offer to step down as commencement speaker at Johns Hopkins medical school, where he works. Students launched a petition after Carson's comments regarding gay marriage, bestiality, and pedophilia. "Given all the national media surrounding my statements...

Why I Told Those Grads They&#39;re Not Special
Why I Told Those Grads They're Not Special
OPINION
Jun 18, 2012 12:16 PM CDT

Why I Told Those Grads They're Not Special

David McCullough Jr. reflects on commencement speech

(Newser) - When high school English teacher David McCullough Jr. told a group of Massachusetts graduates they're not special , he wasn't expecting the deluge of publicity that followed, most of it "enthusiastically positive." He reflects on the experience and offers a follow-up in the Daily Beast , in which...

Finally, Grads Get Good Advice: 'You Are Not Special'

Editorial: Self-esteem movement takes a needed knock in speech

(Newser) - An English teacher in Massachusetts gave the commencement speech to a local high school and delivered a rarely heard message in such settings: "You are not special," David McCullough Jr. told students in Wellesely. "You are not exceptional." The students applauded, as do the editors at...

Obama Salutes Joplin&#39;s Grads, &#39;Inspiration&#39;
 Obama Salutes 
 Joplin's Grads, 
 'Inspiration' 
1 YEAR LATER
May 22, 2012 7:45 AM CDT

Obama Salutes Joplin's Grads, 'Inspiration'

President delivers commencement speech a year after deadly tornado

(Newser) - A year after a screaming tornado ripped out the heart of Joplin, Mo. , as its new graduates headed home from commencement , President Obama last night saluted the town's resilience as Joplin High School feted a new crop of graduates. "The story of Joplin isn't just what happened...

Obama&#39;s Our First Woman President
 Obama's Our First 
 Woman President 
Dana Milbank
May 15, 2012 9:05 AM CDT

Obama's Our First Woman President

Dana Milbank thinks Obama's taking the pandering just a bit too far

(Newser) - Good news, Barack Obama. You may not be the first black president (that would be Bill Clinton), but you are the first gay one , and apparently the first woman, too. That's how Dana Milbank of the Washington Post is interpreting yesterday's schedule. Eager to exploit his advantage over...

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