Secretary of State John Kerry returned to his alma mater of Yale University on Sunday to take a swipe at disgraced Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
"You are graduating today as the most diverse class in Yale's long history," Kerry said. "Or, as it's called in the NBA, Donald Sterling's worst nightmare." According to the Associated Press, the comment drew laughs from the crowd, which included graduates from 61 countries.
Kerry's zinger was one many memorable moments from the 2014 crop of commencement speeches.
Puff Daddy was among several unconventional choices for commencement speakers.
At Howard University earlier this month, music mogul Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs quoted the late rapper Biggie Smalls in his speech to graduates.
“It was all a dream," Combs said in his speech on May 10. "I used to read Word Up magazine.”
Combs, who left Howard before earning his bachelor’s degree, recalled his time at the historically black college.
“My mind was blown when I saw so many beautiful shades of brown," Combs said. "I never heard so many accents, never seen so many beautiful women — and we all know Howard has the most beautiful, intelligent women in the world.”
On Friday, first lady Michelle Obama gave an impassioned speech on diversity to high school graduates in Topeka, Kansas, where the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case started.
“You all are the living, breathing legacy of this case,” Obama said. “Many districts in this country have pulled back on efforts to integrate their schools. Many communities have become less diverse."
Obama also delivered the commencement address to graduates of Dillard University in New Orleans.
“No dream is too big, no vision is too bold," she said on May 10. "As long as we stay hungry for education and let that hunger be our North Star, there is nothing, graduates, nothing, that we cannot achieve.”
At the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Sunday, Bill Nye had a similar message for graduates: "Change the world."
"I'm not kidding. Change the world in new, exciting and big ways," Nye, better known as "The Science Guy," said. "Keep reaching. Keep seeking. Keep using your abilities to bring out the best in those around you, and let them bring out the best in you."
Nye also railed against climate-change deniers. "Conspiracy theories are for lazy people," he said. "People that don't want to get down to the business at hand. ... Instead of just doing less, we have to find ways of doing more with less. That's the key to the future." Also, he added, "if you smell fresh paint, don't walk under the ladder."
Attorney General Eric Holder also brought up the Sterling scandal in a speech to graduates at Morgan State University in Baltimore on Saturday, saying "subtle racism" still exists in the United States.
“Over the last few weeks and months, we’ve seen occasional, jarring reminders of the discrimination and the isolated, repugnant, racist views,” Holder said. “These outbursts of bigotry, while deplorable, are not the true markers of the struggle that still must be waged. ... The greatest threats do not announce themselves in screaming headlines. They are more subtle. They cut deeper.”
On May 3, Vice President Joe Biden delivered the commencement speech at Miami Dade College in Florida, the nation's largest community college.
“My name is Joe Biden, I am Jill Biden’s husband," Biden joked. "On every community college campus, that’s how I’m known.” (In her own commencement speech at Villanova, Jill Biden told the graduating class, "Show your heart to the world.")
The vice president then urged Congress to act on immigration reform. “It’s time to get done what an overwhelming number of Americans want to do," Biden said. “Act now and take these people out of the shadows.”
Jill Abramson, who was fired as executive editor of the New York Times last week, honored her commitment to speak at Wake Forest's graduation on Monday.
"What's next for me? I don't know," Abramson said. "So I'm in the same boat as many of you!"
On May 10, Tiger Woods’s ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, received a roar of applause from Rollins College graduates when she mentioned her divorce.
“When I entered my student adviser's office in the fall of 2005, I was 25 years old. I had just recently moved to America. I was married without children,” Nordegren said, according to ABC News.
“Today, nine years later, I’m a proud American, and I have two beautiful children — but I’m no longer married.
"It was right after I had taken Communication and the Media" class, she said, "I was unexpectedly thrust into the media limelight. And I probably should have taken more notes in that class."
At the University of Colorado Boulder, the May 9 commencement speech was delivered by Eric Stough, animation director for Comedy Central's "South Park" and a CU grad.
"Good morning, class of 2014," Stough, better known as the voice of several characters on the show, said. "As Mr. Hankey, the Christmas poo, would say, 'Howdy ho!'"
Stough, the voice of "Butters," also had a serious message for graduates about to enter the real world: "We need you. Your diploma is an inanimate object, so be the animator, and bring it to life."
美国国务卿约翰·克里在星期天回到其母校耶鲁大学，猛烈抨击洛杉矶快船队的老板唐纳德·斯特林。
克里说：“在耶鲁大学漫长的校史上，你们如今的毕业是最具多样化的。或像NBA里所说的，这是唐纳德·斯特林最可怕的恶梦。”据美联社报道，克里的话逗乐了现场听众，包括来自61个国家的毕业生们。
2014年有很多有意义的毕业演讲，克里的精彩演讲是其中的一部分。
“吹牛老爹”是非传统的毕业典礼演说者。
本月初，音乐界巨头“吹牛老爹”肖恩·康姆斯在霍华德大学向毕业生作演讲时，引用了已故说唱歌手比基·斯莫兹的话。
康姆斯在其5月10号的演讲中说：“一切都只是一个梦想。我过去常常看Word Up杂志。”
康姆斯回忆起在黑人大学的时光，他在本科还没毕业时就离开了霍华德大学。
康姆斯说：“当我看到这么多漂亮的棕肤色身影时，我思维都活了。从未听过这么多种口音，也没见过这么多漂亮的女人。我们都知道霍华德大学的女性在世界上是最貌美最有才的。”
周五，在堪萨斯州托皮卡市，美国第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马就高中毕业生多样化发展作了激情的演讲。美国历史上意义重大的布朗诉托皮卡教育局案就发生在托皮卡市。
米歇尔说：“你们都是这个教育诉讼案鲜活的受益者。许多地区的学校都后悔校园一体化。很多社区变得越来越单一。”
米歇尔也在新奥尔良市的迪拉德大学作毕业典礼演讲。
她在5月10号说：“梦想没有极限，远见还需大胆。只要我们渴望知识，把这渴望当做指引我们的北极星，同学们，那就没有什么事是办不成的。”
星期天，比尔·内在马萨诸塞大学卢维尔分校也向毕业生传达了相似的信息：“改变世界”。
内是一位著名的科普专家，他说：“这不是开玩笑。用全新、全面、振奋人心的方式去改变这个世界吧。不断攀登，不断探索，用你们的能力把最好的东西奉献给周围的人，同样，你周围的人也会这样影响着你。”
内也责骂那些否认气候变化的人。他说：“阴谋论是为懒人准备的。那些不愿办正事的人们……我们必须找到方法，有更多地行动，这才是未来的关键。”他还说，“如果你看到危险，就别再靠近。”
星期六在巴尔的摩的摩根州立大学，司法部长艾瑞克·霍尔德也在毕业典礼演讲中提到了斯特林丑闻。他说，美国仍然存在“微妙的种族歧视”。
霍尔德说：“在过去的数周数月里，我们看到歧视的现象，孤立敌对的种族主义观点。虽然很可悲，但这些偏见的爆发并不是斗争的真正标志。最大的威胁并不会出现在耸人听闻的标题上。它们更加微妙，隐藏地更深。”
5月3日，美国副总统乔·拜登在迈阿密戴德学院的毕业典礼上发表演说，迈阿密戴德学院在佛罗里达州，是全国最大的社区学院。
“我名叫乔·拜登，我是吉尔·拜登的丈夫。”拜登开玩笑道，“在每个社区学院的校园里，人们就是这么认识我的。”（吉尔·拜登在维拉诺瓦大学的毕业典礼演讲上向毕业生说，“向世界展现你们的心灵。”）
之后，副总统催促国会实施移民改革。拜登说：“是时候完成多数美国人想要做的事，立即行动，把这些人从阴暗中解救出来。”
吉尔·艾布拉姆森上周被辞去其纽约时报的执行编辑工作，兑现诺言并于星期一在维克森林大学的毕业典礼上致词。
艾布拉姆森说：“我下一步该做什么？我不知道。所以，我和你们当中的很多人一样。”
5月10号，老虎伍兹的前妻艾琳·诺德格林在罗林斯学院作演讲，提到她的离婚时，收获了一片掌声。
根据美国广播公司的报道，诺德格林说，“2005年秋，我进入学生顾问办公室。那年我25岁，才到美国不久，结婚但没生小孩。”
“九年后的今天，我是一个自豪的美国人，并且有两个漂亮的小孩，但我已经离婚了。”
她说：“我选择‘媒体和交流’这门课是对的。意外地受到媒体的关注，或许我应该在那课堂上多做笔记。”
5月9日，埃里克·斯特图在科罗拉多大学波尔得分校的毕业典礼上致词，他是一名剑桥研究生，动画片导演，执导过美国喜剧中心频道的《南方公园》。
“早上好，2014级毕业的同学们，”斯特图说道，他给几部动画片配过音，所以大家熟悉他的声音。他说：“当圣诞耙耙遇到卫生纸先生，他会这样打招呼，喂！”
斯特图的声音表现得很搞笑，同时也不忘严肃地向毕业生说明了象牙塔外真实的世界。“我们需要你，不过你的毕业证书是没有生命的，所以你要做个有生命气息的人，快乐地活着。”
