This year’s commencement season was characterized by speaker cancellations and discord over artificial intelligence, with students at a handful of universities booing their commencement speakers over their comments lauding AI.
But some speakers decided to lean into the chaos; author Daniel Pink, speaking to students at Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio, preceded his comments on AI by joking, “Under a little-known federal law, every commencement speech during the year 2026 is required to contain the phrase ‘in an age of artificial intelligence.’” Director and writer Noah Baumbach, meanwhile, opened his address at Vassar College by telling graduates dryly, “I’m here to tell you about the wonders of AI and also to express my controversial views on the conflict in the Middle East.”
The speakers this year worked to acknowledge the uncertain and at times frightening world today’s students are graduating into, while still celebrating their accomplishments. Here’s a sampling of some of the most entertaining, funny and poignant moments from the 2026 commencement addresses.
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