As a long-time college faculty member and administrator, I have heard, and given, quite a few commencement addresses.
It might seem like a high stakes talk based on the size of the audience and the grandeur of the event, but I have always found it comforting, and indeed humbling, to realize that few alumni remember who spoke at their commencement ceremonies, much less what they said.
That isn’t all that surprising. Family members are focused on celebrating the accomplishments of their loved ones; graduates are focused on quandaries such as which side of their caps they should place their tassels (hint: Nobody knows; nobody cares).
Still, on occasion, a speaker says something truly memorable. Here are some of my favorites.
At Northwestern in 2011, Stephen Colbert talked about when you should give up your old dreams for new ones. “If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses.” People change and so should their aspirations. Richard Serra, who redefined the nature of sculpture, spoke at Williams in 2008 about not being limited by social and other conventions as you discover your own voice. “Rules are overrated. They need to be changed by every generation. That is your most important mandate: If it’s not broken, break it.”
But the speech I think about the most was from Steve Sample, who, between 1991 and 2010, served as the 10th president of the University of Southern California. His leadership helped turn a good regional university into a research powerhouse that is among the most selective and diverse schools in the nation. Now I suspect that some readers — shout-out to my Bruin friends — will point out that USC has attracted more than its share of negative attention since Steve passed away in 2016. But there is no denying that few, if any, still refer to USC as either the “University of Second Choice” or the “University of Spoiled Children.”
Steve was a mentor and friend, who played an instrumental role in my professional career, appointing me as a dean and vice president. His wife Kathryn once told me that one of the reasons he was so supportive of me was that as a devout Christian, Steve had great respect for Judaism, and appreciated the pride I openly displayed in my faith.
His final address as president, at USC’s commencement in 2010, was titled “Three Questions,” and his premise was that young people should ask themselves three specific questions, and that their answers should help guide their life choices. The first was “How do you feel about money?” The second was “How do you feel about children?” Great questions, but what made the deepest impression on me was the third one, “How do you feel about G-d?”
Steve joked that his audience must be wondering why anyone would bring up faith at a secular commencement ceremony. But his concern was that many of us are too scared to wrestle honestly with this ultimate question guiding our lives.
He saw millions of people attending religious services on autopilot, without “the foggiest idea of how they feel about G-d, or what kind of relationship they have with their G-d, or what they expect of him, or what they believe he expects of them.” He also noted that there are millions of agnostics who shrug off questions about G-d, “and yet who find it impossible to fully suppress their concerns for the spiritual and transcendent aspects of their own existence.” Steve was careful not to be proscriptive, but as a person of faith, he believed in his heart that it was highly desirable to come to grips with your personal relationship with G-d.
Steve would often end a speech, as he did that commencement address, with the words “G-d bless you.” For him, it wasn’t a throwaway line. It was a prayer.
Steve would often end a speech, as he did that commencement address, with the words “G-d bless you.” For him, it wasn’t a throwaway line. It was a prayer.
I can’t promise that everyone in the audience that day can recall what Steve talked about, or even remember that he was the speaker. But I sure do.
As Steve would say, may G-d bless us all.
Morton Schapiro was vice president and dean at USC before serving as president of Williams College and then Northwestern University. His most recent book (with Gary Saul Morson) is “Minds Wide Shut: How the New Fundamentalisms Divide Us.”
