Commencement Archive

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Class of 2014

Browse commencement speeches from 2014, including addresses by William H. McRaven, Bill and Melinda Gates, and John Legend. Each record links to the available source material, transcript, video, and archive context.

30 addresses 10 themes 6 highlights

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Highlights from 2014

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

  01     William H. McRaven University of Texas, Austin Naval Adm. William H. McRaven addresses UT Austin's 2014 graduates, drawing on ten lessons from his Navy SEAL basic training to illustrate how individuals can change the world. He explains that small disciplined actions, teamwork, perseverance through failure, and courage in dark moments prepare a person to improve the lives of others. He ties these lessons to the university's slogan, 'What starts here changes the world,' arguing that each graduate's decisions can ripple across generations.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideoOfficial source   02     Bill and Melinda Gates Stanford University Bill and Melinda Gates reflect on how their early optimism about technology evolved through encounters with extreme poverty and disease in places like Soweto, a multi-drug-resistant TB hospital in South Africa, and communities in India. They argue that optimism alone is insufficient and must be paired with empathy to address inequities, sharing personal stories of suffering they witnessed. They urge graduates to combine their genius and optimism with empathy, to see those most in need, and to turn toward suffering as the moment when change begins.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptOfficial source   03     John Legend University of Pennsylvania John Legend tells Penn's Class of 2014 that true success comes from opening your heart to love rather than chasing money or status. He recounts his journey from his Ohio childhood, his family's collapse after his grandmother's death, his early rejection by record labels, and his eventual breakthrough with Kanye West, framing each chapter around the role of love and passion. He extends the idea beyond personal relationships to 'love in public'—justice, philanthropy, and compassion for strangers—and urges graduates to overcome fear and go 'all in' on love.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideo   04     Mary Barra University of Michigan GM CEO Mary Barra addresses the University of Michigan Class of 2014, opening with humor about Millennial-generation stereotypes and noting that core skills learned at school remain essential but insufficient alone. She offers six life lessons drawn from her own career: pursue work with passion and hard work, act with integrity, build relationships, address challenges head on, give back to others, and stay close to friends, family, and faith. She encourages graduates to remain open to unexpected opportunities throughout their lives.    InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideo   05     Atul Gawande University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gawande opens with research showing that children with cancer often report equal or better quality of life than healthy children, attributing this to environments of care, connection, and shared purpose that strengthened them through adversity. He argues that true flourishing comes not from pursuing personal passions or defeating rivals, but from finding a place in the world where one contributes to something larger than oneself. He encourages graduates to seek purpose through community and service, drawing on his own experience in medicine.    InfographicSummaryVideoOfficial source   06     Janet Yellen New York University Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen offers graduates lessons for life after college, drawing on examples from science, sports, and her own experience at the Fed. She emphasizes persistent curiosity, listening to opposing views, perseverance through setbacks, and the courage to take a stand. She encourages graduates to pursue work they are passionate about and to find joy along the way.    InfographicSummaryTranscript   

Represented themes

Common ideas classified across this year's speeches.

Resilience 12 Purpose & Meaning 12 Social Justice & Equality 11 Courage 8 Public Service & Civic Life 8 Identity & Authenticity 7 Failure 5 Work & Ambition 3 Curiosity & Learning 5 Love & Relationships 6

All 2014 addresses

Complete archive records for this year, sorted by institution.

American University

Austin Community College

Bryn Mawr College

Carthage College

Sheryl Sandberg

City Colleges of Chicago

Cornell University

Dartmouth College

Dillard University

Emerson College

Harvard Law School

Maharishi University of Management

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Middlebury College

New York University

Martin Scorsese

New York University Tisch School of the Arts

Janet Napolitano

Northeastern University

Bill and Melinda Gates

Stanford University

Syracuse University

Anne-Marie Slaughter

Tufts University

University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism

University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

University of Michigan

University of New Hampshire

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of Pennsylvania

William H. McRaven

University of Texas, Austin

Wake Forest University

Yale University