Harvard Commencement humor

Speakers making funny at the 365th Commencement

Rashida Jones
Photograph by Jim Harrison

Rashida Jones ’97, College Class Day speaker, on selling a script for a $16-million movie, only to watch the deal fall through and then making the movie with her partner, for $840,000—“almost a year of Harvard tuition.”


Sheryl Sandberg
Photograph by Stu Rosner

Chief Marshal Sheryl Sandberg ’91, M.B.A. ’95, COO of Facebook, representing the twenty-fifth reunion class at the Commencement day luncheon spread in Widener Library: “I am so happy to be here because this is one of the very few things I get to do that Mark Zuckerberg does not. I worked really hard to graduate from Harvard—twice. And then I go work for someone who didn’t graduate once.”

Fiftieth reunioner Daniel Brooks ’66, waiting with classmates to process into Tercentenary Theatre for the afternoon oratory, where he was “looking forward to a Spielberg spiel.”

Latin Salutatorian Anne Ames Power ’16 offered a “dictionary” of Harvardian terms (with English translation tucked into the Morning Exercises programs for the unschooled). Teasing out meanings, she explained: “[A]t Harvard a ‘concentration’ can be defined as ‘an individual course of study’ as well as ‘what you lack in Friday morning class’”—and added the senior-year revelation “that ‘thesis’ can be a noun, a verb, and a state of being.”

You might also like

Harvard Honors Its Oldest Alumni

At 97 and 101, Linda Cabot Black ’51 and William “Bill” Dubey ’46 led the way on Alumni Day.

Ruth J. Simmons Receives the 2026 Radcliffe Medal

Michelle Obama, Drew Gilpin Faust, and others paid tribute to the pioneering educator during Harvard’s Radcliffe Day festivities. 

Commencement Day with Conan O’Brien

The comedian headlined a star-studded cast for Harvard’s 375th Commencement exercises.

Most popular

Don’t Be A ‘Solo Superhero,’ Jonny Kim Tells Harvard Alumni

The astronaut, doctor, and Navy SEAL delivered keynote remarks at the University’s Alumni Day festivities.

Ronny Chieng Tells Harvard to ‘Destroy AI’ as Graduates Cheer

The comedian and The Daily Show host gave the keynote address for Class Day 2026.

Meet Harvard’s 2026 Student Commencement Speakers

Two undergraduates and a Ph.D. candidate will address the graduating class on May 28.

Explore More From Current Issue

Brick archway with a sandy base, surrounded by wooden planks and boxes in a dim space.

How the American Revolution Freed a Future Abolitionist

Darby Vassall, an enslaved child freed after the Battle of Bunker Hill, dedicated his life to fighting for liberty.

Woman with long hair, smiling, wearing a black sweater, in a textured beige background.

For This Poet, AI Is a Writing Partner

Sasha Stiles trained a chatbot on her manuscripts. Now, her poems rewrite themselves.

A dancer in a black leotard poses gracefully in a bright studio, with mirrors reflecting her movement.

A New Black Swan Musical Cranks Up the Tension

The creative team of the A.R.T.’s new show dish on adapting Darren Aronofsky’s thriller classic from screen to stage.