Tercentenary Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., May 26, 2016…
2016 Baccalaureate Service: “Who Will Tell Your Story?”
Memorial Church, Cambridge, Mass., May 24, 2016 As delivered. Greetings, Class of 2016. And so it is here—the week of your Commencement. The days of miracle and wonder when your theses are written, classes have ended, and you still have free HBO. And so it may seem strange to be gathered here today, as we…
Commencement Address at UMBC: “The Fellowship of Educated Men and Women”
University of Maryland, Baltimore County, May 19, 2016 As delivered. Thank you for this very great honor. Thank you, President Hrabowski, UMBC faculty, staff, distinguished guests, families, friends, and of course, graduating students: It is a signal honor for me to be here. Graduates, you have worked hard to arrive at this moment. You have…
Wadsworth House Plaque Dedication
Cambridge, Mass., April 6, 2016…
To Be “A Speaker of Words and a Doer of Deeds:” Literature and Leadership
United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, March 24, 2016 As delivered. Thank you, Colonel Harper, and thank you, Lieutenant General Caslen, for inviting me today. And thank you to the Zengerle family for making this occasion possible. It is a great privilege to launch this series and I know it will have a…
Remarks at U.S. Conference of Mayors
Roxbury Community College, October 7, 2015 As delivered. Good evening, and thank you for that introduction. I am delighted to be here tonight. I am an admirer of our host, President Roberson, who is working every day at Roxbury Community College to create pathways to opportunity for students from Greater Boston, most of them students…
2015 Remarks at Morning Prayers
Appleton Chapel, Memorial Church, September 2, 2015 As delivered. Today, as we embark on this new academic year and as we welcome to campus individuals from a wide range of origins, backgrounds, locations, and circumstances, I would ask that we pause to recall and reaffirm our purposes and our opportunities. I often remark that for…
2015 Commencement Speech
As delivered. Thank you, President Torres. Welcome, Governor Patrick. Thank you, everyone, for being here. The 146th annual meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association at the 364th Commencement of Harvard University. It’s a particular pleasure to welcome former Governor Deval Patrick of the College Class of 1978 and the Harvard Law School Class of 1982….
2015 Remarks at ROTC Commissioning Ceremony
As delivered. At the end of Commencement week exactly 150 years ago, a crowd assembled here in the Yard for a very special Harvard occasion — a commemoration of the end of four long years of Civil War. The day was to be a celebration of the sons of Harvard who had served and a…
2015 Baccalaureate Service
As delivered. Greetings, Class of 2015! What a privilege it is to be with you here today. Four years ago at your convocation, under a cloudless sky, when we came together for the very first time, I mentioned this day and suggested that you would be different people, changed by what you had learned and…