What is The Address?
The commencement address is one of America's most enduring rituals — and one of its most overlooked. Every spring, thousands of speakers take the podium at colleges across the country. What they say, who gets asked to say it, and how it has all changed over the decades reveals something surprising about who we are.
The speeches you forgot or missed. The history, the data, the surprises. All here.
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A Brief History of the Tradition From Latin Orations to Celebrity Keynotes
The commencement address began as a formal academic exercise — graduates demonstrating mastery of rhetoric in Latin before assembled faculty. Somewhere along the way it became something else: a stage for famous voices, a mirror for national anxieties, a ritual that tells us more about the moment than about the graduates it addresses.
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1600s
Colonial colleges hold Latin disputations. The graduate argues, the faculty judges.
1800s
English replaces Latin. Outside speakers invited for the first time.
1940s
Politicians dominate the podium. Marshall Plan announced at Harvard, 1947.
1990s
Celebrities arrive. Entertainment and inspiration replace statesmanship.
Today
The address is a cultural event — watched, shared, debated, and occasionally protested.
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The Speeches
Themes by year, language patterns over decades, and what each era's speeches reveal about America.
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The Schools
How speeches differ across Ivy League, service academies, and liberal arts — and who gets invited to speak.
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Fun Facts
Most-watched, most prolific, most unusual. The records, surprises, and data you didn't know you wanted.
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Articles
Long-form pieces going deep on the history, rhetoric, and culture of the American commencement address.
4+
schools where AI booing made national news in 2026
26
commencement speeches by one president (Obama, the record)
1947
year a speech changed history