Year
Class of 2019
Browse commencement speeches from 2019, including addresses by Tim Cook, Chimamanda Adichie, and Michael Bloomberg. Each record links to the available source material, transcript, video, and archive context.
3 addresses 10 themes 3 highlights
Highlights from 2019
Records with stronger source signals, summaries, transcripts, videos, or visual archive material.
Tim Cook Stanford University Tim Cook addresses Stanford's 2019 graduating class, reflecting on Silicon Valley's intertwined history with Stanford and the recent turn from optimism to crisis in the tech industry. He argues that technology magnifies human nature and urges graduates to accept responsibility for what they build, defending digital privacy as essential to human freedom. He encourages them to be humble builders who serve something larger than themselves, and shares personal lessons from succeeding Steve Jobs about the difference between preparation and readiness. InfographicSummaryTranscriptVideoOfficial source 
Chimamanda Adichie Yale University Chimamanda Adichie reflects on her time as a graduate student at Yale and offers graduates advice on navigating uncertainty, contradictions, and the responsibilities of power. She urges them to define what America should be, to combat fear surrounding gun violence, racism, and women's autonomy, and to engage with the world rather than withdraw. She emphasizes intellectual humility, checking primary sources, making real arguments instead of sneering, apologizing sincerely, valuing oneself, and prioritizing love alongside ambition. InfographicSummaryVideoOfficial source 
Michael Bloomberg Massachusetts Institute of Technology Michael Bloomberg draws a parallel between the Apollo 11 moon landing, which MIT helped achieve, and the urgent challenge of combating climate change, arguing that the necessary technology already exists and the primary obstacle is now political rather than scientific. He criticizes the federal government's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and climate skepticism, and announces a $500 million Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative called Beyond Carbon. He calls on graduates to engage in political activism and voting to drive climate action. InfographicSummaryOfficial source Represented themes
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