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№ 2018.003 — Yale University — Yale College Class Day address
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Former secretary of state, senator, and first lady
In her 2018 Yale Class Day address, Hillary Clinton urged graduates to draw on resilience as they enter what she called one of the most tumultuous times in American history. She reflected on her own ties to Yale and her 2016 election loss, argued that the country needs 'radical empathy' and 'democratic resilience' to heal divisions, and called on graduates to defend truth, facts, and a free press while staying civically engaged. She expressed optimism rooted in Americans' toughness, rising numbers of women in politics, and growing willingness to speak out.
Key moments
- 01 Praising the Class of 2018's activism, including the March of Resilience and renaming of residential colleges
- 02 Joking about wearing a Russian hat as a jab at President Trump
- 03 Quoting Dickens to describe America as both the best and worst of times
- 04 Calling for 'radical empathy' and defense of truth, facts, and democratic institutions
- 05 Citing reasons for hope including more women winning elections and people speaking out against harassment
Visual speech map
Hillary Rodham Clinton at Yale, 2018
A Class Day address about resilience, radical empathy, civic courage, truth, democracy, and battle-hardened hope.
- 01 Woolsey Hall
- 02 Yale Law alumna
- 03 Resilience
- 04 Radical empathy
- 05 Truth
- 06 Free press
- 07 Women rising
- 08 Keep fighting
Setting
A storm moves Class Day indoors
Thunderstorm forecasts shift the Class of 2018 into Woolsey Hall, where Clinton turns disruption into a frame for resilience and public responsibility.
The ceremony gathers graduates, families, prizes, hats, and Class Day traditions inside Woolsey Hall.
A Yale Law graduate comes back as a former first lady, senator, secretary of state, and presidential candidate.
She names the class as already tested by campus debates, activism, and institutional change.
Resilience
Getting knocked down is not the end
Clinton links personal failure, the 2016 election, and the graduates future mistakes to the discipline of getting back up and continuing the work.
Election grief becomes evidence that even prepared people can be stunned, hurt, and forced to learn.
Resilience is treated as a repeated civic habit, not a heroic mood that appears once.
Student courage in the March of Resilience becomes a campus-scale example of persistence.
Democracy
Defend truth when reason is under attack
The address moves from personal recovery to democratic repair, warning that facts, institutions, free press, and public service need active defense.
Truth and evidence are presented as civic infrastructure that should outlast partisan conflict.
Supporting serious journalism becomes one practical way to resist manufactured unreality.
Democratic resilience is made concrete through participation in every election, not only the largest ones.
Charge
Keep up the pressure without losing empathy
Clinton closes with battle-hardened hope: reach across divides, stay vigilant, and keep acting even when progress is difficult to see.
Radical empathy asks graduates to see across race, class, politics, and fear without surrendering conviction.
Women running, winning, and speaking out become signs that pressure can change public life.
The final charge is civic endurance: keep fighting, keep voting, and keep faith with one another.
Transcript
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Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
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Category: Politics