Saturday, May 28, 2016

Bill Maher on commencements, past and future


A week ago today, I attended my college's Commencement ceremony, where I watched my students from the past few years get their degrees. It was a wonderful experience, including the addresses by the student speaker and the former CEO of Garden Fresh. I'll be back for next year's ceremony.

Last night, Bill Maher had his own take on what ceremonies like that will be like in 25 years as part of New Rule – 2041 Commencement Address.

In his editorial New Rule, Bill has some harsh truths for college students and delivers a graduation speech to the Class of 2041.
Welcome to Dystopia!

This isn't the first time Bill has examined graduations. Here is last year's Graduation Caps – June 5, 2015.

It’s graduation time. And you know what that means – kids writing things on their mortarboards, like, “Hire Me” or “Thanks, Mom & Dad: I Love You.” Well, in these difficult times and with these millennials, the grad cap messages are a little different…
It turns out that Bill actually knows something about graduation speeches, having given one himself in 2014 to U.C. Berkeley's Winter Commencement.

Bill Maher gives the keynote address at UC Berkeley's Winter Commencement and graduation ceremony on Saturday, December 20, 2014.
That was worth listening to. Among all the doom, he was able to offer hope. Oh, look, a fellow Crazy Eddie!

2 comments:

  1. Maher's address reminds me of a sequence in DOONESBURY in the late 70s as the Dean of Walden anticipates the future.

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    Replies
    1. I probably read that back in the day. Thanks for reminding me that such a thing exists.

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