Commencement Archive

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Class of 2009

Browse commencement speeches from 2009, including addresses by Anthony Kennedy, Barack Obama, and Carl Schramm. Each record links to the available source material, transcript, video, and archive context.

25 addresses 10 themes 6 highlights

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Highlights from 2009

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

  01     Anthony Kennedy Stanford University Justice Anthony Kennedy urges Stanford graduates to see themselves as trustees of freedom under law, arguing that American freedom carries a duty to help secure it for others around the world. Drawing on examples from his teaching in China, the absence of the rule of law in struggling nations, and the costs of corruption and lack of property rights, he contends that law is an instrument of progress rather than a threat. He calls on graduates to know and revere their constitutional heritage and to use their interconnected, empowered generation to advance law and freedom globally.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptOfficial source   02     Barack Obama Arizona State University President Obama addresses ASU's Class of 2009 amid economic recession and global challenges, urging graduates to reject a 'me-first' definition of success based on titles, wealth, and status. He argues that such a focus distracts from values and breeds complacency, and instead calls on graduates to pursue meaningful work, serve others, and continually build a lifelong 'body of work.' He cites historical and contemporary figures who succeeded without prestige to encourage graduates to change the world. 
Photo: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza  /  Public domain  /  source    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideo   03     Carl Schramm University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Carl Schramm urges University of Illinois graduates to consider entrepreneurship as a vocation, telling the story of Ewing Kauffman, who built a pharmaceutical company from nothing and later created a foundation to teach entrepreneurship. He challenges the notion that non-profit and government work is inherently more virtuous than business, arguing that entrepreneurship is itself a form of service that creates wealth, jobs, and innovation. Speaking during the 2009 recession, he places current economic hardship in historical context and calls on graduates to become America's most entrepreneurial generation.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideo   04     Fareed Zakaria Bates College Fareed Zakaria acknowledges that the Class of 2009 is graduating into difficult economic and geopolitical times, but argues he remains optimistic because of the graduates themselves. Using examples like the swine flu response and Thomas Malthus's failed predictions, he stresses that it is easy to describe the world's problems but impossible to predict the human response that ultimately changes history. He urges graduates to recognize themselves as agents of change and to pursue enduring qualities such as intelligence, hard work, honesty, character, loyalty, love, and faith.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptOfficial source   05     Larry Page University of Michigan Larry Page recounts his deep family ties to the University of Michigan, where his parents met and where multiple family members earned degrees, framing the address as a personal homecoming. He shares the origin of the idea behind Google, born from a late-night dream, and encourages graduates to pursue ambitious goals with a 'healthy disregard for the impossible.' He closes by reflecting on his father's death and battle with polio, urging graduates to value family and pursue work that could make a difference in the world.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideo   06     Rahm Emanuel George Washington University Rahm Emanuel, then White House Chief of Staff, addresses the George Washington University Class of 2009 by sharing three personal lessons drawn from his own life: take life seriously, learn humility from failure, and serve a cause greater than oneself. He frames graduation amid economic crisis as both a responsibility and an opportunity, urging graduates to engage in public service. He cites rising applications to programs like Teach for America, the Peace Corps, and AmeriCorps, and references a newly signed national service bill.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideo   

Represented themes

Common ideas classified across this year's speeches.

Purpose & Meaning 9 Public Service & Civic Life 8 Hope & Optimism 8 Resilience 7 Work & Ambition 5 Courage 4 Global Responsibility 6 Failure 4 Love & Relationships 3 Identity & Authenticity 1

All 2009 addresses

Complete archive records for this year, sorted by institution.

Arizona State University

Auburn University

Anthony Corvino

Binghamton University

Martha Nussbaum

Connecticut College

Jonathon Youshaei

Deerfield High School

George Washington University

Illinois Institute of Technology

Lexington High School

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Gabrielle Giffords

Scripps College

Anthony Kennedy

Stanford University

Ellen DeGeneres

Tulane University

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, San Diego

Robert M. Gates

University of Georgia

University of Hawaii

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Michigan

University of Portland

Arnold Schwarzenegger

University of Southern California

University of Tennessee

Robert Rodriguez

University of Texas, Austin

USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Christopher Buckley

Yale University