Commencement speech

Kent Beck giving a commencement speech

George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton speaking at the University of New Hampshire commencement.

A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions. The "commencement" is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred upon graduating students. A commencement speech is typically given by a notable figure in the community, during the commencement exercise. The person giving such a speech is known as a commencement speaker. Very commonly, colleges or universities will invite politicians, important citizens, or other noted speakers to come and address the graduating class.

See also

• Graduation in the USA
• Types of speeches

External links

• The art of the commencement speech, an archive
• A selection of speeches from 2005 from C-SPAN^{[dead link]}
• Excerpts from commencement speeches by Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and J.K. Rowling
• List of commencement speakers at the top 100 U.S. Universities in 2010 [1]