Class of 2001

Browse commencement speeches from 2001, including addresses by Carly Fiorina, Wynton Marsalis, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Each record links to the available source material, transcript, video, and archive context.

7 addresses 10 themes 6 highlights

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Highlights from 2001

Records with stronger source signals, summaries, transcripts, videos, or visual archive material.

  01     Carly Fiorina Stanford University Carly Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett-Packard and a Stanford alumna, tells graduates that life, like the medieval philosophy seminar she once took, is a process of 'distillation'—boiling thousands of pages of experience down to one's essential truth. She recounts her own path of seeking and stumbling: quitting law school, working as a receptionist, teaching in Italy, attending business school, and eventually becoming CEO of HP. She frames each stage as confronting and overcoming a particular fear, urging graduates to let fear motivate rather than inhibit them and to keep making brave choices true to their essence.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptOfficial source   02     Wynton Marsalis Connecticut College Jazz and classical musician Wynton Marsalis advises graduates to reconsider common admonitions about time, contrasting the pressure to be 'on time' with a trumpet player's counsel to be 'in time.' He suggests that being 'in time' allows one to experience more of life as it unfolds and to focus on including others rather than imposing one's will.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptOfficial source   03     Hillary Rodham Clinton Yale University In her Class Day address at Yale's 300th Commencement, Hillary Rodham Clinton encouraged graduates to pursue their dreams and persevere through setbacks, sharing personal stories about her time at Yale, her Senate campaign, and her work for underprivileged children. She discussed public service, children's issues, and the global AIDS crisis, urging students to care for those in need. She also included lighthearted moments, including advice that 'hair matters,' and delivered good wishes on behalf of her husband Bill Clinton.    InfographicSummary   04     Stephen King Vassar College     InfographicTranscriptOfficial source   05     Suzan-Lori Parks Mount Holyoke College     InfographicOfficial source   06     Daniel Goldin Massachusetts Institute of Technology     Infographic   