Commencement Speeches Worth Remembering

Familykenkel notes:  it's commencement season.  Usually delivered by a roster of successful, dignified but dry and eminently forgettable speakers, the commencement speech is often seen by the capped-and-gowned graduates as a formality merely to be endured before they can get their hands on their diplomas and say goodbye to school.  But this season, there are some notable exceptions to this sometimes boring tradition.  To have a celebrity speaker show up -- unannounced -- or an artist of words or music, can make a student's commencement ceremony something that will actually be remembered in the decades to come.

Familykenkel salutes the Class of 2014 along with some notable commencement speakers.

We at the Familykenkel would like to be there to hear some of the commencement day speeches being delivered this year.  Actress and producer Sandra Bullock surprised the students at a New Orleans high school by walking onstage and delivering a poignant speech.  She had also made a donation to the school's reconstruction efforts following Hurricane Katrina.  Jill Abramson, freshly fired from her position as Executive Editor of the New York Times had some memorable things to say to Wake Forest University graduates.  Singer John Legend spoke at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania.  Actor Ed Helms, swimmer Diana Nyad and CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, are all scheduled to speak at schools later this month.