college graduation

20 Stories

Billionaire Offers Surprise Gift to Grads at Commencement

Robert Hale gifts $1K to each UMass Boston student during ceremony, with a heartwarming catch

(Newser) - Students being honored at Thursday's graduation ceremony at UMass Boston not only received their diplomas—there was also an extra-special gift waiting for them, courtesy of commencement speaker Robert Hale, the billionaire CEO of Granite Telecommunications and part owner of the Boston Celtics. CNN reports that as the university'...

Biden to Grads at Alma Mater: 'No Time to Be on the Sidelines'

President gave commencement speech to Class of '22 at University of Delaware on Saturday

(Newser) - President Joe Biden told graduates Saturday at his alma mater, the University of Delaware, that "now it's your hour," as he encouraged young people in the United States to help the country live up to its ideals. Speaking to more than 6,000 graduates, and with the...

6 Sweet Words to College Grads: 'You No Longer Have a Balance'

Donor pays off debt of Class of 2022 at Wiley College in Texas

(Newser) - As far as messages to graduating college seniors go, it's tough to beat. Wiley College President Herman Felton informed more than 100 grads of his school on Saturday that an anonymous donor had paid off their student debt, reports the Root . "If you have a balance, you had ...

'Hate-Filled Attack' by Hacker Ends Virtual Graduation

Racist slurs and symbols fill Zoom screen

(Newser) - "During a time that should have been focused on recognizing our graduating students," the president of Oklahoma City University said, "an unknown source was able to bypass the system and display racist and offensive language." The attack cut short the school's virtual graduation ceremony Saturday....

16-Year-Old Is Graduating From High School. Oh, and Harvard
They Were Told
He Was Gifted.
He'll Be Proving
It This May
in case you missed it
Jan 5, 2019 9:30 AM CST

They Were Told He Was Gifted. He'll Be Proving It This May

16-year-old Braxton Moral will be first to graduate from high school and Harvard at same time

(Newser) - Like many kids, Braxton Moral dreams of one day being president. Unlike many kids, the 16-year-old forged an unusual path in his quest to get there. Per Time , Braxton will graduate on May 19 from Ulysses High School in his Kansas hometown, then don a cap and gown on May...

University Apologizes to Black Grads for 'Aggressive' Usher

University of Florida students were manhandled off stage

(Newser) - The University of Florida has apologized to black students who were manhandled off the stage by an aggressive usher at a commencement ceremony Saturday. Students say they were grabbed and shoved down the stage when they performed quick celebratory dances, with the usher apparently singling out African-American students, CNN reports....

In NYC Subway, Impromptu Pomp and Circumstance

Hunter College student missed his actual ceremony, so riders staged one for him

(Newser) - Jerich Marco Alcantara missed his graduation from New York City's Hunter College nursing school Tuesday when he got caught in a two-hour delay on the subway—but he got the next best thing when his fellow New Yorkers staged a graduation ceremony for him on the stalled train, Digg...

What Clinton Called a 'Con' in Commencement Speech

The new Trump budget, Hillary said at alma mater Wellesley

(Newser) - Nearly 50 years ago this month, a young Hillary Rodham delivered Wellesley College's student commencement speech . On Friday, Hillary Rodham (now with a "Clinton" tagged onto the end) addressed graduating students there for the third time—she also spoke at commencement in 1992, when she was first lady,...

Baby Ditched at SF State in 1984 Just Graduated From There

Jillian Sobol, now 31, was found in a box

(Newser) - A newborn abandoned in a box in a San Francisco State University dorm in 1984 just came full circle—by graduating from the same school. The San Francisco Chronicle relays the story of Jillian Sobol, now 31, whose biological mom, a student at SFSU, gave birth and left the infant...

Woman Graduates 75 Years After Finishing College

Unpaid $5 fee had kept her from receiving diploma

(Newser) - Among this month's graduates: Jessie Jones-White, Class of 1939. Jones-White, 99, was set to graduate from Beal College in Bangor, Maine, 75 years ago, but she didn't receive her degree thanks to an unpaid $5 transcript fee, ABC News reports. She recently told a friend the story; that...

College Grads: Both Record High and 'Distressingly Low'

Yes, both things at once

(Newser) - The number of American college graduates has been surging in recent years to a record high—which is probably a fair bit lower than you'd expect. As of last year, 33.5% of Americans aged 25 to 29 had at least a bachelor's degree, according to federal data....

What Commencement Speakers Should Really Say
What Commencement Speakers Should Really Say
OPINION
May 4, 2012 9:04 AM CDT

What Commencement Speakers Should Really Say

Alexandra Petri weighs in on sometimes hard-to-hear truths

(Newser) - Wish you could ditch the inspirational commencement speech for something a bit more realistic? So does Alexandra Petri. But she wasn’t satisfied with Charles Wheelan’s recent list in the Wall Street Journal , “10 Things Your Commencement Speaker Won’t Tell You,” because she kinda remembered hearing...

It Is Way Too Easy to Graduate College

 It Is Way Too Easy 
 to Graduate College 
OPINION
Jun 2, 2011 9:51 AM CDT

It Is Way Too Easy to Graduate College

Schools worry more about luxe sports fields and pharmaceutical patents

(Newser) - It's a hot question these days: Is college worth it? But writing for the Los Angeles Times, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa don't beat the same old "expensive! bad job market!" angle into the ground. Instead they wonder if it's worth it because it's...

David Brooks: Sorry, Grads, We've Taught You All Wrong
 Sorry, Grads: 
 We've Taught  
 You All Wrong 
david brooks
May 31, 2011 11:34 AM CDT

Sorry, Grads: We've Taught You All Wrong

'Finding yourself' isn't step one

(Newser) - As another class graduates from colleges across America, David Brooks reflects on a generation “ill served by their elders”: We haven’t given them the skills to “navigate” an unpredictable world. “This year’s graduates are members of the most supervised generation in American history,” Brooks...

Graduation Speaker Ann Curry Lauds Wrong College

Wheaton College in Massachusetts—not Illinois— takes mistake in stride

(Newser) - Ann Curry is impressed with Wheaton College grads Billy Graham and Wes Craven, she said during her commencement address at Wheaton College. Trouble is, she was at the Wheaton College in Massachusetts, and Graham and Craven went to the school of the same name in Illinois. "I am mortified...

UVa. Awards Slain Lax Player Posthumous Degree

Moment of silence at commencement

(Newser) - A moment of silence was held at the University of Virginia's commencement ceremonies and slain women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love was given a posthumous degree. Love was awarded a bachelor's degree in politics and government today in a diploma ceremony held by the Department of Politics. Love's cousin, Lawren McChesney,...

Welcome to the Real World; It Stinks
 Welcome to the 
 Real World; 
 It Stinks 
joe queenan
May 17, 2010 1:56 PM CDT

Welcome to the Real World; It Stinks

Class of 2010 has dim prospects and unrealistic expectations

(Newser) - A meeting with a childhood friend of his twentysomething son—an Ivy League grad making $250 a week as an intern with a street fair—got Joe Queenan thinking. His inescapable conclusion: the millennials are screwed. "With the obvious exception of youngsters born during the Great Depression," Queenan...

Michelle Obama to GWU Grads: 'Keep Giving'

First lady urges new alumni to stay involved

(Newser) - When Michelle Obama agreed to be George Washington University's commencement speaker, she challenged the school's 5,000 seniors to do 100,000 hours of community service. They completed 163,980 hours, reports the Washington Post , spurring the first lady to joke at today's ceremony that if she had known they...

Congrats on Graduating— Now Life Really Starts to Suck
Congrats on Graduating—
Now Life Starts to Suck
commentary
May 11, 2010 11:33 AM CDT

Congrats on Graduating— Now Life Starts to Suck

Today's the day your student loans start collecting interest!

(Newser) - If you're a graduating college senior who didn't get to hear the president warn you about iPads, never fear: Teddy Wayne has some words of wisdom for you. But first, congratulations: "Your reward is here: compulsory, harder work for the next 40 years!" And don't worry, 18th-century French...

Notre Dame Names First Black Valedictorian

Katie Washington and her 4.0 GPA are bound for medical school

(Newser) - Notre Dame will honor its first African-American valedictorian at Sunday's graduation ceremony, Dawn Turner Trice writes for the Chicago Tribune : 21-year-old Katie Washington. The biological sciences major beat out two other candidates with her stellar CV, which includes a 4.0 GPA and co-authorship of a major research paper. "...

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