With graduation season underway, here are some celebrities who have been asked to give commencement speeches from colleges and universities around the US.
Updated: May 21, 2014, 12:00 AM
In pictures: Celebrity commencement speakers
University of New Hampshire commencement speaker Jennifer Lee ‘92 encouraged graduates and guests to banish self-doubt during the university’s 144th commencement held Saturday, May 17, 2014. “When you are free from self-doubt, you fail better,” said Lee, director and writer of the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Frozen. “You accept criticism and listen.” Courtesy University of New Hampshire
Singer John Legend delivers the commencement address at University of Pennsylvania on May 19, 2014. Courtesy UPenn
Just before receiving his degree, Berklee College of Music graduate Wing-Ching Poon of Edmonton, Canada takes a “selfie” with former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Winslow Townson / AP photo
Jay Leno gives a commencement speech at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts on May 11, 2014. Courtesy Emerson College
Bill Nye (also known as Bill Nye the Science Guy) delivered the commencement address at UMass Lowell in Lowell, Massachusetts on May 17, 2014. Courtesy UMass Lowell
“Choose to be present for each other, even after you leave here today,” actor Kal Penn advised members of DePauw University’s Class of 2014 this morning. “Continue to read books, encourage the arts, talk with people who disagree with you, do crazy things, be selfless, share moments of love, remember what matters, do not make it rain,” he added. Courtesy DePauw University
Jill Abramson, former executive editor of The New York Times, receives an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the commencement ceremony at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC on May 19, 2014. It was Abramson’s first public appearance since her dismissal from The New York Times. Nell Redmond / AP photo