Colorado College Commencement Speeches

Musician and Colorado College alumna Abigail Washburn opens with song and explains why she titled her speech 'obituary,' recounting a creativity workshop that had her write her own obituary and envision her life's dre...

Poet Billy Collins delivers a humorous, self-deprecating commencement address that resists conventional advice and clichés about hard work and the future. He explores how we relate to time—dividing perspectives into t...

Wade Davis opens with anecdotes from his travels before highlighting two scientific revelations: the Apollo image of Earth from space, which reshaped environmental consciousness, and human genome research, which prove...