Congratulations, Class of 2016!

May 23, 2016

On May 24, 1992—twenty-four years, nearly to the day, before her speech yesterday to the Yale College Class of 2016—a Davenport College senior named Samantha Power listened to her Class Day speaker, the writer and humorist Calvin Trillin ’57. Like Trillin, Power would start her career as a journalist. And, like Ambassador Power, there is every reason to believe that one of the very-soon-to-be-graduates reading this email—whether in the college, the School of Nursing, Divinity, Music, or elsewhere—will one day return to New Haven to give a Class Day address of his or her own.

To the 3,628 graduates of the Yale Class of 2016—undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from every corner of our campus—I offer heartfelt congratulations. I have every conviction that you, collectively and individually, will go on to make Yale proud … and, like those who have come before you, to do great things in the world.

P.S. If you have not yet downloaded the Commencement mobile app, new for this year, now is a great time to do so. And those who can’t make it to Old Campus for the Commencement exercises can watch the live-stream version on Yale’s YouTube channel.