Graduation Around the Nation
By Wagner Mendoza
Thousands of commencement speeches are given yearly in colleges around the world. The top colleges and universities in the United States seem as though they are in constant competition with each other to designate the more successful, affluent, and popular, keynote speaker/s. The keynote speakers for commencement ceremonies are usually accomplished academics, entrepreneurs, or celebrities invited by the student body of the school. Usually spoken to motivate and ignite a spark in the hearts of the candidates for graduation, commencement speeches inspire the soon-to-be college graduates to strive for a better future.
Some of the top-tier universities in New York will graduate their students in the coming weeks of May. Often, the speeches are available online.
Upcoming Commencements and Keynote Speakers:
- Barnard College, Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood President
- The University of California, Los Angeles, Randy Schekman, 2013 Nobel Prize winner in physiology and medicine and UCLA Alumnus
- Stanford University, Bill and Melinda Gates
- Harvard University, Michael R. Bloomberg, Former New York City mayor
- Cornell University, David J. Skorton, Cornell President
- University of Michigan, Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors
- New York University, Janet Yellen, the first woman to serve as chair of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System #
Wagner Mendoza is a high school senior in Queens and is entering NYU in the fall.
