Commencement Speeches

About

Commencement Speeches are special addresses presented as parting words of wisdom and life advice for the graduating class at high school or college graduation ceremonies. Since the advent of YouTube and other video-sharing sites in the mid-2000s, a number of commencement speeches given by notable alumni, public figures and celebrities have gone viral for their inspirational or humorous messages.

Origin

One of the earliest commencement speech videos to go viral online was Apple founder Steve Jobs’ address to Stanford University’s graduating class on June 12th, 2005. The video was uploaded online for the first time via Apple History's YouTube channel^[1] on March 6th, 2006, followed by another version uploaded via Stanford University’s^[2] YouTube channel on March 7th, 2008. However, Steve Jobs' speech received much of its online exposure following his death in October 2011. The two versions have racked up more than 27 million views in aggregate as of May 2014.

Spread

On January 8th, 2006, YouTuber Braddma^[9] uploaded comedian actor Will Ferrell’s speech to the 2003 graduating class of Harvard in five parts (shown below, left). The speech has frequently been included on lists of the best commencement speeches including lists published by Rolling Stone^[10] and AOL Jobs.^[11] As of May 2014, the first video has gained over 1.4 million views. On June 8th, 2006, YouTuber Espank9^[6] uploaded the 2006 Harvard commencement speech given by Family Guy creator Seth Macfarlane in four parts (shown below, right). His speech was covered by several websites, including Entertainment Weekly^[7] and CollegeHumor,^[8] with many outlets highlighting the fact that MacFarlane gave the speech in the voices of three of his Family Guy characters: Stewie, Peter, and Quagmire. As of May 2014, the most viewed clip featuring the voice of Stewie has gained over 2.9 million views.

On June 15th, 2008, Stanford University uploaded a video of Oprah Winfrey giving a commencement address to the 2008 graduating class. As of May 2014, the video has gained over 1.2 million views.

Notable Examples

2012

On June 7th, 2012, Wellesley High School^[3] uploaded the commencement speech given by English teacher David McCullough to the graduating class. The speech was covered by several websites, including The Huffington Post^[4] and The Daily Beast^[5], most notably for McCullough's sobering advice summed up in his quote “you’re not special.” As of May 2014, the video has gained over 2.2 million views.

On June 12th, 2012, the vlogger duo Rhett & Link^[12] uploaded a video of themselves giving a commencement speech to the 2012 graduating class of their alma mater, Harnett Central High School, during which they delivered a segment of their speech as a musical performance. As of May 2014, the video has gained over 860,000 views.

2014

On May 19th, 2014, actress Sandra Bullock surprised^[16] the graduating class of Warren Easton Charter High School by delivering their commencement address (below, left). Bullock had donated money to the school after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. On May 20th, 2014, Merrimack College uploaded a video of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor Charlie Day giving a commencement address to the 2014 graduating class via its YouTube channel.^[13] Several websites featured the speech including UpRoxx^[14] and TIME.^[15] Within 48 hours, the video gained over 400,000 views.

2015

In May 2015, a variety of commencement speech videos became popular online. On May 11th, Kanye West addressed the graduates of the Art Institute of Chicago and received an honorary Doctorate of Art.^[17] As of May 19th, 2015 a Soundcloud recording of the speech had received over 87,000 plays.

Also on May 11th, First Lady Michelle Obama gave the commencement speech at Tuskegee University. According to the White House, "The First Lady also encouraged the graduates to remain strong in the face of those that "will make assumptions about who they think you are based on their limited notion of the world," explaining how she and the President have been on the receiving end of those assumptions throughout their lives." ^[18] Tuskegee's official video of the speech (below top left) had received over 80,000 views by May 19th.

Other notable, popular commencements included actress Maya Rudolph at Tulane University (below, top right), Jimmy Buffett at the University of Miami (bottom left), and Neil Degrasse Tyson at University of Massachusetts Amherst (bottom right).

2016

On May 14th, 2016, Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg gave the graduation speech at University of California, Berkeley, while longtime journalist Tom Brokaw addressed the graduates at the University of Mississippi commencement, during which he took several jabs at University of Alabama.

Also on May 14th, former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney spoke at the graduation ceremony of Trine University, while Senator of Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren delivered the address at Bridgewater State University. That same day, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson gave a speech at University of Wisconsin and Tony-Award and Tony-Award winning actor and creator of Hamilton spoke at the ceremony of University of Pennsylvania.

On May 15th, President Barack Obama gave his commence speech at Rutgers University.

2017

In May 2017, many leaders and pioneers from both public and private sectors gave special addresses during the graduation ceremony for the class of 2017, from high-profile politicians (Mike Pence, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton) and business leaders (Mark Zuckerberg, Howard Schultz) to actors (Robert De Niro, Helen Mirren, Octavia Spencer) and celebrities (Hannibal Buress, Will Ferrell, Oprah Winfrey).

Search Interest

According to Google Trends, search queries for "commence speech" saw a noticeable spike in October 2011, after Steve Jobs' death on October 5th, 2011.

External References