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The New York Times studied videos of addresses posted online, including those by President Trump, Kermit the Frog and a slew of celebrity speakers. Here is a look at key themes that emerged.
By Mitch SmithArijeta Lajka and Caroline Kim
It has been a graduation season unlike any other. The Trump administration is investigating elite universities and cutting research funding. Pro-Palestinian activism and claims of antisemitism are shaping campus life. International students are worried about having their visas revoked.
In contrast with past generations, what a speaker says on a commencement stage now reaches an audience far larger than the crowd that day. Universities routinely post footage of ceremonies online, giving faraway relatives of graduates a chance to tune in and handing keynote speakers a global stage.
The New York Times studied videos of dozens of keynote commencement addresses that were posted online — more than 170,000 words delivered this spring at a cross section of America’s higher education institutions — in order to analyze the most pressing topics. Many speakers, including Kermit the Frog at the University of Maryland, the gymnast Simone Biles at Washington University in St. Louis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at Dakota State University, avoided the political fray and focused on timeless lessons.
transcript
“Rather than jumping over someone to get what you want, consider reaching out your hand and taking the leap side by side. because life is better when we leap together.”
But plenty of others, including journalists, scientists and politicians from both parties, weighed in directly on the news of the moment. Many of them described 2025 in existential terms, warning about dire threats to free speech and democracy. Others heralded the dawn of a promising new American era. Here is a look at key themes that emerged in those speeches.
Several speakers struck an upbeat tone about the world students were entering.
transcript
“Start with nothing but a passionate idea. Work hard. And in the United States of America, you can achieve great things.” “We’ve seen the Holy Spirit support, guide and strengthen men and women, men and women who have said, ‘Send me’ throughout history, throughout America’s history.” “The barriers to creation are as low as they’ve ever been, and the spark of an idea can become a reality in an instant. That means there are more possibilities before you than ever before.” “We have the hottest country in the world, and the whole world is talking about it. That’s an honor for all of us. I cannot wait to see the glory that is still ahead.”
The actor Gary Sinise told Vanderbilt University students that “our freedom certainly allows us the opportunity” to achieve great things. At Furman University, Kristin Huguet Quayle, an Apple executive, said “the barriers to creation are as low as they’ve ever been” and there “are more possibilities before you than ever before.”
President Trump spoke at two ceremonies, telling graduates that it was a unique and exciting moment to be a young American. “I think you have a chance to be the greatest generation in the history of our country,” the president told University of Alabama graduates. Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, a Republican, spoke at Liberty University about the possibilities awaiting those who say “Send me.”
Speakers from the media world described a country where objective truths were increasingly doubted and open discourse was threatened.
transcript
“We are in a moment when truth is under attack, when the loudest voice too often drowns out the most honest one, where misinformation spreads faster than facts. And that’s why your voices matter.” “Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack.” “Don’t believe those who tell you there is no real truth. That’s a lie.” “I think we need to think about reliable information as a human right — the way we think about freedom or food or fair treatment under the law.”
Al Roker, the NBC News broadcaster, told Siena College students that “truth is under attack.” Scott Pelley of CBS News said at Wake Forest University that “journalism is under attack.” And Jonathan Karl of ABC News said at Washington College that if someone suggests there is no real truth, “that’s a lie.”
At Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Nancy Gibbs, a longtime magazine reporter and editor, lamented the decline of newspapers and the rise of conspiracy theories, telling students that “I think of you as a wartime generation.”
Speakers from inside and outside the political arena called out the dangers of polarization.
transcript
“Polarization, seeing everything through a simple political lens, whether you’re either with me or against me, is doing real harm to our nation.” “To respect means that we give others grace, even if we disagree. To include means that we pull more chairs up to the table. We don’t fear different voices.” “We’re not curious enough in this country. We’re either polarized to one side or the other. We only ask the same questions that we’ve already heard.” “Staying in that center and not edging out to the extreme ends is what keeps us all agile and questioning, seeking and thinking. It keeps us on our toes.” “We know that many on the left and the woke philosophy and the intolerance have victimized people on the right. Now my warning is to the right. Don’t do the same thing to the left. Don’t try to get even.”
Grant Hill, a retired N.B.A. player, urged Duke University students to show respect amid disagreement and not to fear dissenting voices. Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son died after being taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, said at Yeshiva University that “the salty, tasty extreme is comforting, it’s fun, and sometimes it even feels righteous,” but that staying in the center “is what keeps us all agile and questioning, seeking and thinking.”
Phil Scott, the Republican governor of Vermont, said at Norwich University that divides were “doing real harm to our nation, our state, our communities.” Doug Collins, the secretary of veterans affairs, said the country was “not curious enough” in his speech at Piedmont University. And at New College of Florida, Alan M. Dershowitz, a legal scholar who represented Mr. Trump in his first impeachment trial, criticized what he saw as the excesses of the left in higher education. But he also urged conservatives not to “try to turn a university into a platform for conservatism, a platform for right-wing ideology.”
Some of the most pointed and urgent speeches were delivered at historically Black colleges and universities.
transcript
“Don’t feel discouraged by the attacks that we’re seeing on efforts to make sure that people who look like you and me have a level playing field in this country, which wasn’t created with fairness for you in mind.” “Jim Crow never died. He just lied in wait. They’ve always attacked diversity, equity and inclusion. They’ve always attacked people and institutions who serve on behalf of Black people.” “While some of us are trying to go viral, they’re plotting to erase the economic gains of Black Wall Street. And for those of you who claim to be above politics, they’re trying to erase the very existence of you.” “Right now today, our books are being removed, our rights as women are being challenged, our Blackness is depicted as a threat. We are being denied in every sector imaginable.”
Many speakers harked back to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, warning graduates that gains that once seemed permanent were now threatened.
“Jim Crow never died,” Representative Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat, said at Tougaloo College. Mayor Leonardo Williams of Durham, N.C., also a Democrat, warned Shaw University graduates against political apathy, saying “there’s a whole system trying to dismantle the very rights that our ancestors bled for.”
At Spelman College, the actor Taraji P. Henson said “our Blackness is depicted as a threat.” LeVar Burton, of “Reading Rainbow” fame, told Howard University graduates that he loved the United States, but that “America is still addicted to its racism.” And at Alabama State University, Representative Shomari Figures, a Democrat, told students not to “feel discouraged by the attacks that we’re seeing.”
Global uncertainty, military threats and America’s changing place in the world were persistent themes.
transcript
The era of uncontested US dominance is over. Today, we face serious threats in China, Russia, and other nations determined to beat us in every single domain. But in the same way that fear is a tool of politics as against our long term self-interest, so is isolationism. The world that you are about to enter is a world where geography and networks and space and populations are increasingly congested and congested, driving the pace of change to accelerate exponentially. We see a rapidly evolving job market. We see the transformative rise of artificial intelligence and persistent economic uncertainties. These are not small hurdles.
Vice President JD Vance told U.S. Naval Academy graduates that “the era of uncontested U.S. dominance is over,” and Adm. Christopher W. Grady, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Notre Dame graduates that they were entering a world where “rival powers contest one another from the seabed to space.”
Melonie D. Parker, a Google executive, spoke to Stillman College graduates about a “rapidly evolving job market” and “the transformative rise of artificial intelligence.” Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, urged students at Yale’s Class Day to remember that “we are connected” beyond national borders.
Dahlia Kozlowsky and Anna Venarchik contributed reporting.
Mitch Smith is a Chicago-based national correspondent for The Times, covering the Midwest and Great Plains.
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A Harvard International Student’s Uncertainty: Alfred Williamson could not have imagined how much his freshman year at the university would be shaped by the Trump administration, inside and outside the classroom.
Africa’s Future Leaders: African students have traded academic institutions in the West for Chinese alternatives. The Trump administration’s clampdown on international students and visas could accelerate the shift.
Indiana University: As university leaders face political pressure around the country, one president in Indiana has acquiesced to many conservative plans.
Rivalry for Talented Scientists: Even before the U.S. threatened to bar international students and besieged universities, China’s huge spending campaign on the sciences was bearing fruit by drawing some of the world’s best researchers to its campuses.
Free Speech Flashpoint at Brown: A conservative student newspaper had DOGE-style questions about the work of Brown University staff. Its writers were summoned to disciplinary hearings.
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