Historically, IU has invited notable people to deliver commencement speeches to inspire graduates. Some noteworthy guest speakers have included Quincy Jones and Tavis Smiley. This year, Dr. Pamela Whitten, IU’s 19th president and first woman president, delivered the commencement speeches at the graduate ceremony on May 5 and the undergraduate ceremony on May 6.

The last time an IU president delivered a commencement speech was in 2006.

This departure from tradition did not seem to impact the occasion. Whitten had done her homework. During her speeches, she shared stories highlighting the achievements of several graduates participating in each ceremony. She noted other facts, such as 28 sets of undergraduate twins earned degrees.

Additionally, there were student speakers who added some flavor to the ceremonies. The graduate commencement student speaker, Dr. Muna Adem, earned a doctorate in sociology. As a daughter of Ethiopian immigrants, her speech was grounded in the old African adage, “It takes a village to raise a child.”

Despite noting the village, she closed out her speech quoting part of Snoop Dogg’s speech after he earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

“I want to thank me for believing in me. I want to thank me for doing all this hard work. I wanna thank me for having no days off. I wanna thank me for never quitting.”

Based on the smiles and head nods, that quote landed well with the graduates.

Tradition was broken, but the speeches included many adages and inspirational words to set the graduates off on the right path.