Stephen Colbert
Field: arts
Stephen Colbert delivers a comedic commencement address to Wake Forest's class of 2015, mixing jokes about the university's history, traditions, and local figures with reflections on facing an uncertain future. He advises graduates to develop their own standards for success and to persevere through failure and criticism. He closes by urging them to prove his generation wrong by tackling problems it left unsolved.
Key moments
- 01 Jokes about Wake Forest's founding, mascot, and traditions like rolling the quad
- 02 Reflecting on his own career transition and the uncertainty of the future
- 03 Encouraging graduates to develop a well-calibrated 'BS detector' and their own standards
- 04 Challenging graduates to solve problems his generation could not, living up to 'pro humanitate'
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Stephen Colbert at Wake Forest, 2015
A commencement address about uncertainty, improvisation, love as action, change, and stepping into work that serves others.
Speech arc
- 01Wake Forest University
Opening move
- 022015
Speech beat
- 03Honorary doctorate
Speech beat
- 04Wait Chapel
Speech beat
- 05Brunch, then uncertainty
Speech beat
- 06Yes, and
Speech beat
- 07Love in action
Speech beat
- 08Change as assignment
Final charge
Unknown: The future is unwritten
Colbert jokes about the dark chasm after brunch, then reframes uncertainty as the real condition graduates must learn to enter.
No script
The class cannot know exactly what comes next.
Possibility
Not knowing is not only a threat; it is where the good work starts.
Courage
The first task is stepping forward without full control.
Colbert jokes about the dark chasm after brunch, then reframes uncertainty as the real condition graduates must learn to enter.
Improv: Build the scene together
The speech leans on improvisation: listen, accept what others offer, and make the shared scene better.
Yes, and
Agreement is not passivity; it is a way to keep creation moving.
Listening
The best response starts by hearing the other person's offer.
Ensemble
Life works better when people help one another look good.
The speech leans on improvisation: listen, accept what others offer, and make the shared scene better.
Service: Love becomes action
Colbert pushes beyond titles and applause toward practical generosity, attention, and service.
Practical
Love is shown in what people do with their time and resources.
Community
The work that lasts is built with and for other people.
Usefulness
Privilege and talent are strongest when turned outward.
Colbert pushes beyond titles and applause toward practical generosity, attention, and service.
Change: Change is the assignment
The address treats change as unavoidable and asks graduates to be curious, open, and responsible inside it.
Adapt
The world is already changing; graduates can help shape it.
Curiosity
Questions are a better companion than certainty.
Responsibility
The call is to join the work instead of watching from the edge.
The address treats change as unavoidable and asks graduates to be curious, open, and responsible inside it.
• Key takeaways •
The future is not a script
Connects to uncertainty.
Improv requires listening
Connects to improv.
Love has to become action
Connects to service.
Change asks for courage
Connects to love.
Community travels with graduates
Connects to change.
Closing charge
Wake Forest becomes a story of accidental beginnings, community, and a charge to leave the next place better.
Carry the Forest forward
Origin
The school's own story becomes a reminder that detours can form institutions.
Belonging
Graduation sends the class outward without severing the community.
Charge
Honor the past by building the future with purpose.
Wake Forest becomes a story of accidental beginnings, community, and a charge to leave the next place better.
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Transcript
The previously catalogued transcript link is no longer live and is queued for re-sourcing. A video of the address is available above.
Machine transcript available for archive analysis; it is unverified and may contain transcription errors. Machine transcript source ->
Provenance
BROKEN transcript link (checked 2026-06-26): returns 404 Not Found. Provenance: Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording | Transcript URL dead (returns 404 Not Found); video fallback present
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