Free Republic

A Jewish mom and her husband were attacked and beaten at a Brooklyn elementary school graduation by an Arabic-speaking family — who taunted them with shouts of “Free Palestine!” “Gaza is Ours!” and “Death to Israel!” she told The Post. The mayhem erupted at PS 682 in Gravesend just after the school’s fifth-grade graduation — which was themed, ironically, “All you need is love.” Instead, the Jewish woman’s husband was thrown to the ground by members of the other family. One man put him in a chokehold, he said. Others grabbed his legs as they kicked and punched him. One...

Harrison Butker fiercely defended the controversial Benedictine College commencement speech he gave earlier this month during Friday evening’s Regina Caeli Academy Courage Under Fire Gala. “If it wasn’t clear that the timeless Catholic values are hated by many, it is now,” the Kansas City Chiefs kicker, who is on the board of the Catholic homeschool hybrid school, said while at the fundraiser. “Over the past few days, my beliefs — or what people think I believe — have been the focus of countless discussions around the globe.”

Hundreds of graduates at Harvard University walked out of their commencement Thursday after the school announced 13 students who participated in the recent pro-Palestinian protests on campus would not be allowed to receive their diplomas with fellow students. Groups of graduates walked out chanting “Free, Free Palestine” and “Let them walk, let them walk” in reference to the students barred from walking at the ceremony, The Associated Press reported. A total of more than 1,000 students participated in the walkout, according to the school’s protest groups.

President Joe Biden delivered a bleak commencement address this weekend, characterizing America as a racist place that does not love black people. Biden gave a commencement speech at Morehouse College in Atlanta on Sunday where he appeared to characterize America in the harshest light in terms of race relations. “You started college just as George Floyd was murdered,” Biden proclaimed. “And there was a reckoning on race. It’s natural to wonder if the democracy you hear about actually works for you.”

I've been a fan of Jerry Seinfeld since I was in middle school. His sitcom "Seinfeld" has been my favorite show since I was 11 or 12 years old. As an adult, I've gone to see him do stand-up comedy several times. I've appreciated the fact that unlike many of his Hollywood contemporaries, he's remained rather apolitical in public. I've never had any illusions that he wasn't a liberal. He's a Jew from New York, after all, and he's reportedly very close with George Stephanopoulos and his wife. Seinfeld's co-stars and collaborators, however, have never been shy about pushing their...

Dozens of students walked out of Duke University’s commencement ceremony on Sunday to protest guest speaker Jerry Seinfield over his support of Israel during the war in Gaza. Video of the incident shows a group of students walking out of their seats and carrying a Palestinian flag as soon as the comedian and TV star was called to the stage. The attention to the protesters was quickly diverted by the cheering crowd, who chanted, “Jerry! Jerry!” as Seinfeld would go on to give his speech and accept an honorary degree from Duke.

Columbia will replace its universitywide commencement ceremony on May 15 with "smaller-scale, school-based celebrations," university officials announced Monday, after weeks of pro-Palestinian and counterprotests on campus. The Ivy League school said the decision was made after discussions with student leaders. Security concerns were the main reason behind the decision, a university official told NBC News. "Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families," the university said Monday. "They are eager to cross the stage to applause and family pride and hear from their school’s invited guest speakers. As a result, we will...

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on May 13, 2023, at Hillsdale College’s 171st Commencement Ceremony. Congratulations to the Hillsdale College Class of 2023. It is a thrill to be here at Hillsdale, which I have heard about for a long time. Last night I had a wonderful tour of campus, and the evening culminated in a concert in your beautiful chapel. The concert included Mahler’s First Symphony played by the student orchestra and was just marvelous. When I was a theology professor, I taught a course on the Reformation for many years, taking seriously the works of...

A graduate speaking at the City University of New York’s law school commencement called for a “revolution” to challenge oppressive institutions in the US — name-checking the “fascist” NYPD, the military, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the prison system. Future lawyer Fatima Mousa Mohammed, a Queens native who was selected by the graduating 2023 class to speak during the May 12 ceremony, praised CUNY for supporting student activism — but said the school still managed to fail students by supporting the NYPD.

President Biden said hope is “shadowed” by fear, violence and hate but asserted that it can still win if people speak up to oppose those forces in his commencement address at Howard University on Saturday. Biden, the seventh sitting president to give the commencement address at the historically Black university, told graduates that he hoped hatred was losing the battle after former President Obama was elected and reelected as the country’s first Black president. But he said hatred “never goes away” and only “hides under the rocks.”

President Joe Biden is announcing that he will speak at the United States Air Force Academy’s Commencement Ceremony next month. This comes after he presented the Air Force Falcons with the Commander-In-Chief's trophy at the White House Friday, April 28. The graduation ceremony is expected to take place Thursday, June 1, at the Falcon Stadium. Gates will open to the public at 6:30 a.m. and the ceremony is expected to begin around 9:30 a.m. Tickets are required to attend. For more information about graduation week you can click the link here.

President Joe Biden mirrored former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's awkward "please clap" moment as his addressed the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s graduating class of 2021. "You are a really dull class. Come on, man. Is the sun getting to you?" Biden said Wednesday in Connecticut after comparing the Coast Guard with the Navy. "All kidding aside, being here together is a victory in itself." During his 25 minute-plus speech, Biden also admitted he needed "absolution" after his college years at the University of Delaware for "minor infractions like using a fire extinguisher to hose down an RA," referring to the...

In a break with recent tradition, President Joe Biden will not be delivering the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame this year - although he was invited by the university to do so. On Tuesday, the university announced that its May 23 commencement speaker will be Jimmy Dunne, a finance executive and trustee of the university. During the last three presidential administrations, U.S. presidents or vice presidents have addressed the university's commencement in their first year in office, but that trend will not continue in 2021. Although a university spokesman told CNA that, as a policy, “we do...

School of Public Health class of 2021. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases will be the commencement speaker for the 2021 graduates of the Yale School of Public Health. The school says a 'special hybrid ceremony' will take place on Monday, May 24. Dr. Fauci was appointed Director of NIAID in 1984, and oversees research of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat established infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, and malaria as well as emerging diseases such as Ebola and Zika. NIAID also supports research on transplantation...

Vice-President Mike Pence was scheduled to speak at a commencement address at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Saturday. Thursday those plans were canceled when Pence was dropped as the speaker after “careful consideration of the escalating events in Kenosha.”Wisconsin Lutheran College is an independent private Christian college. It’s a small school with a student population of just over 1200. The commencement isn’t on campus, it is at Franklin Field in Franklin. A substitute speaker, Rev. Mark Jeske of St. Marcus Lutheran Church, has been named. The excuse given for the disinviting Pence is the violent chaos in...

Something to lift our spirits. Something you won't see on the LSM. It brought tears to these tired eyes.

I'm a long-time fan of Mike Rowe, and happened last night to see his recent 'Unsolicited Commencement Speech'. (I searched, and couldn't see if anyone else had posted this; apologies if someone already has): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnrsRHnuRKY

Obama told graduates, “You’re being asked to find your way in a world in the middle of a devastating pandemic and a terrible recession. The timing is not ideal. And let’s be honest: A disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country. We see it in the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on our communities, just as we see it when a black man goes for a jog, and some folks feel like they can stop and question and shoot him if he doesn’t submit to...

Just found this - others have probably seen it but could not find it when did a search here. Another unsung but awesome deed by our President, speaking at the commencement of the Hope for Prisoners graduation ceremony in Las Vegas. The President starts speaking at 50:07.

This is the greatest commencement speech ever.