Graduation speakers get in political jabs, while others do jokes
Calls to action, service are popular themes in year of political tension
College graduation season is in full swing, with celebrities and politicians delivering impassioned, heartening and funny commencement speeches to the class of 2017. This year’s exercises cap off a year marked by political tensions on and off campuses across the country. And President Donald Trump and criticisms of his administration’s policies were a key feature of many addresses.
At Howard University’s commencement Saturday, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., criticized the administration’s stance on immigration, health care and law enforcement. The former attorney general of California blasted the administration’s controversial decision to direct prosecutors to pursue mandatory minimum prison sentences that has resulted in longer incarcerations of African-American and Latino men.
“At a time when there are Americans — disproportionately black and brown men — trapped in a broken system of mass incarceration ... speak truth — and serve,” Harris, a Howard alum, told graduates. “At a time when men, women, and children have been detained at airports in our country simply because of the God they worship . . . speak truth — and serve. At a time when immigrants have been taken from their families in front of schools and outside courthouses ... speak truth — and serve.”
Maz Jobrani, an Iranian American comic and actor, used humor to discuss Trump’s immigration policies at his alma mater, the University of California Berkeley on Saturday. Iran is one of the six majority-Muslim nations named in Trump’s temporary travel ban.
“Listen even if you voted for Trump, we still love you. We do. Listen. I know immigrants that voted for Trump. Yes. I have immigrant friends who voted for Trump because they wanted fewer taxes. They ended up with fewer relatives. But still. Things happen.”
“Speaking of Trump, if you’re thinking of committing a federal crime, this weekend would be a good time to do it because he just fired the head of the FBI. Jim Comey. Yeah. Easy comey, easy gomey.”
Though she took a few jabs at the Trump administrations, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., primarily used her address at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Friday as a call to civic action.
“The decisions that get made by your government are important and far-reaching, and it is no longer possible to assume that democracy will work if most Americans simply wait until election time to learn a little about the candidates and otherwise ignore what’s going on,” she said.
“Politics was not top of mind for everyone this year. Comedian Will Ferrell delighted the audience at the University of Southern California’s commencement Friday with a rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” Ferrell, a 1990 graduate of the university, was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters.
“The next time I’m flying and they ask if there’s a doctor on board, I can now confidently leap to my feet and scream, ‘I’m a doctor, what can I do? Yes, no problem, I can absolutely deliver that baby.’ Hopefully it will be on United Airlines, in which I will immediately be subdued and dragged off the aircraft . ...
“To those of you graduates sitting out there who have a pretty good idea of what you’d like to do with your life, congratulations. For many of you who maybe don’t have it all figured out, it’s okay. ... Trust your gut; keep throwing darts at the dartboard.”