Commencement Archive

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Class of 2010

Browse commencement speeches from 2010, including addresses by Susan Rice, Barack Obama, and Jeff Bezos. Each record links to the available source material, transcript, video, and archive context.

31 addresses 10 themes 6 highlights

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Highlights from 2010

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

  01     Susan Rice Stanford University Susan Rice reflects on how much the world has changed since her own 1986 Stanford graduation and argues that progress comes only from deliberate human effort. She challenges graduates to become agents of change in the fight against global poverty, framing it as both a moral and national security imperative, and illustrates this with the story of a destitute boy she met in Angola. She closes with personal advice about pursuing one's passions, being fearless, prioritizing family, and committing to service.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideoOfficial source   02     Barack Obama University of Michigan President Obama addresses the University of Michigan's class of 2010, reflecting on the health of American democracy amid economic crisis and divisive politics. He argues that democracy has thrived through adapting government to changing times, maintaining civility in public debate, and active citizen participation. Drawing on historical examples and Kennedy's Peace Corps speech delivered at Michigan, he urges graduates to seek out opposing views, engage with diverse people, and contribute to public life. 
Photo: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza  /  Public domain  /  source    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideo   03     Jeff Bezos Princeton University Jeff Bezos draws a distinction between gifts (innate talents like cleverness) and choices (such as kindness), illustrating it with a childhood story in which his grandfather told him it is harder to be kind than clever. He recounts his decision to leave a secure job to start Amazon as an example of choosing passion over safety. He urges graduates to recognize that their lives will ultimately be defined by the choices they make rather than their gifts.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptOfficial source   04     Meryl Streep Barnard College Meryl Streep addresses Barnard's class of 2010, using her acting career to reflect on pretending, empathy, and authenticity. She recounts how she once adjusted her personality in high school to appeal to boys before rediscovering herself at women's college, and argues that empathy lies at the heart of acting and of social change. She observes that men are increasingly able to identify with strong female characters, sees this as cultural progress, and urges the graduates to address gender inequality and other global issues, concluding that fame matters less than making one's family proud.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideo   05     Tim Cook Auburn University Tim Cook, then Apple COO, reflects on his pivotal decision to join Apple in 1998 when the company was struggling, emphasizing that he followed his intuition over analytical reasoning. He argues that important life decisions often rest on intuition, but that intuition must be backed by relentless preparation, hard work, and execution. He encourages graduates facing a difficult economy to prepare for opportunities, embrace failure as part of success, and find joy in the journey.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideo   06     Jamie Hyneman Villanova University Jamie Hyneman, known for MythBusters, tells Villanova's class of 2010 that behind the show's explosions lies discipline, creativity, research, and problem-solving, and that his real pride is in inspiring curiosity and new scientists and engineers. He recounts his rural Pennsylvania and Indiana upbringing on apple orchards and his collaborations with Villanova's engineering staff on projects including a flying car, a Mars robot, and protective armor for soldiers. He accepts an honorary Doctorate of Engineering and embraces his new status as a Wildcat.    InfographicSummaryTranscript   

Represented themes

Common ideas classified across this year's speeches.

Purpose & Meaning 14 Public Service & Civic Life 9 Social Justice & Equality 7 Courage 9 Identity & Authenticity 7 Kindness & Empathy 7 Global Responsibility 6 Curiosity & Learning 6 Resilience 6 Technology & Science 5

All 2010 addresses

Complete archive records for this year, sorted by institution.

Auburn University

Barnard College

Brandeis University

Colorado College

Connecticut College

Porochista Khakpour

DeVry University

Dominican University

Harvard University

Liberty University

Loyola University

Raymond S. Stata

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Princeton University

John Jacob Scherer

Roanoke College

San Francisco State University

Julianna Margulies

Sarah Lawrence College

Scripps College

Stanford University

Trine University

Anderson Cooper

Tulane University

University of Arizona

University of California, Berkeley

University of Massachusetts Lowell

University of Michigan

University of Tennessee

Villanova University

Wellesley College

William Jefferson Clinton

Yale University