I Love College Commencements, and the Speeches Are the Least of It

Because I’m a college professor, I’ve been going to commencements for most of my working life. In the spirit of a theater reviewer, I consider myself an authority on which commencement speeches will win over an audience and which will fall flat.

I have even developed an eye for judging the best way a student can get a laugh from other students when accepting a diploma from a serious-looking dean. But the truth is I like all commencements. I’m not in the least jaded about them. What gets to me are the parents I meet after the diplomas have been handed out.

I have heard some great commencement speeches at the college where I teach, but nothing that any speaker has said has ever touched me the way the ordinary conversations I have with parents do.

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