The Dean's List team created a unique top 10 list for the craziest commencement speakers of 2023! From climate justice activists to the founder of the 1619 Project, see who your university hosted on campus! 
 
-The Dean's List team 
 
Top 10 lists change every two weeks, so keep checking back!

The founder of the 1619 Project had this to say in <a href="https://atlantadailyworld.com/2023/05/22/spelman-commencement-nikole-hannah-jones-urges-graduates-to-control-your-own-excellence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">her speech</a>, “Across the nation, we are seeing cruel attacks on other marginalized groups, particularly the trans community and particularly our trans sisters. As you prepare to take this next step in your lives, women across the nation have lost their constitutionally protected right to determine their own reproduction. Particularly devastating for Black women who for centuries have fought for our own bodily autonomy. These are perilous times, but if there’s one thing that Black women know how to do, it is to fight.”

Nikole Hannah-Jones

“You really do have to be <a href="https://news.fordham.edu/commencement/commencement-2023/stevie-wonder-performs-for-class-of-2023-challenges-grads-to-be-activists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">woke</a>. Now, maybe some people in this nation, some leaders, some governors don’t understand what being woke is. Let me tell you what it is. It’s being awake. Being awake. Being aware. So stand up and be counted as one against oppression, hatred, and let’s keep the truth alive.”

Stevie Wonder

Winfrey told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/oprah-winfrey-delivers-woke-commencement-address-supreme-court-corrupted-lgbtq-under-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">graduates</a>, “The Supreme Court is being corrupted. The debt ceiling is being held hostage. The climate is changing. The LGBTQ+ community is under attack. The Cold War is back.”

Oprah Winfrey

In her commencement <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/may-every-zionist-burn-in-the-hottest-pit-of-hell-meet-cuny-law-schools-antisemitic-graduation-speaker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speech</a>, Fatima Mohammed lambasted everyone from Israelis to New York City police. She has a history of antisemitic and anti-America social media posts, including this post on X, formerly known as Twitter: “my mom would have a heart attack if she knew i pray upon the death of the USA on a public platform but yolo i guess.”

Fatima Mohammed

In his speech, Oswalt <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/may/31/commencement-speeches-graduation-2023-tom-hanks-oprah-winfrey#:~:text=Patton%20Oswalt%2C%20actor%20and%20comedian,trivia%20and%20silliness%20and%20fun." target="_blank" rel="noopener">refers</a> to “White Nationalists” and states, “To the graduating class of 2023, I say three words: you poor bastards.”

Patton Oswalt

Battle is a climate justice <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/essays-culture/colette-pichon-battle-taproot-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">activist</a> who regularly promoted the Green New Deal. She often conflates climate change with race, progressivism, and equity. Sounds like a recipe for DISASTER (no pun intended).

Colette Pichon Battle

Hughey is the vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion at SiriusXM. She thankfully shares her she/her <a href="https://twitter.com/NicoleHugheyMBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pronouns</a> on her X, formerly known as Twitter, page and once had SiriusXM <a href="https://www.standforsonicdiversity.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">donate</a> to Stand for Sonic Diversity, which strives to implement race quotas in entertainment.

Nicole Hughey

<a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/10/900274938/caste-argues-its-most-violent-manifestation-is-in-treatment-of-black-americans#:~:text=Wilkerson%27s%20central%20thesis,law%20and%20order." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Isabel Wilkerson</a> is the author of the book, Caste, which proclaims that the caste system “achieves its most violent manifestation in the treatment of American Blacks, set at the lowest level in society through historical and contemporary oppression, marginalization and violence.”

Isabel Wilkerson

Bertozzi told School of Medicine <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2023/06/bertozzi-graduation-speech.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">graduates</a>, “Unlike many of your predecessors, you &#8211; for the first generation in some time &#8211; might find yourself literally blocked from delivering health care to some of your patients that need it most. Patients that need it desperately, for example women that need access to reproductive and abortion services… transgender youth who need access to health care.”

Carolyn Bertozzi

Dr. Johnson <a href="https://www.middlebury.edu/announcements/2023/06/2023-middlebury-commencement-address-dr-ayana-elizabeth-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> the “climate crisis” as “the all-encompassing challenge that will touch whatever life and work you will go on to.” She also told students: “Every job can be a climate job! No matter if you studied econ or were pre-med.”

Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

Top 10 Controversial Commencement Speakers of 2023

Homepage - Dean&#039;s List

Abilene Christian University

Alabama A&amp;M University

Alabama State University

Alcorn State University

Alfred State College

American University

Amherst College

Appalachian State University

Arizona State University

Arkansas State University

Asbury University

Ashland University

Auburn University

Austin Peay State University

Azusa Pacific University

Baldwin Wallace University

Ball State University

Bard College

Barnard College

Barry University

Baruch College

Bates College

Baylor University

Belmont University

Benedictine University

Bethany Lutheran College

Bethune-Cookman University

Binghamton University

Biola University

Boise State University

Boston College

Boston University

Bowdoin College

Bowling Green State University

Bradley University

Brandeis University

Bridgewater College

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University-Idaho

Brown University

Bryant University

Bryn Mawr College

Bucknell University

Buffalo State University

Butler University

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt

California State University - Fresno

California State University - Los Angeles

California State University Channel Islands

California State University Maritime Academy

California State University San Bernardino

California State University San Marcos

California State University-Bakersfield

California State University, Chico

California State University, East Bay

California State University, Fullerton

California State University, Long Beach

California State University, Monterey Bay

California State University, Northridge

California State University, Sacramento

California State University, Stanislaus

California University of Pennsylvania

Campbell University

Canisius University

Capital University

Carnegie Mellon University

Case Western Reserve University

Cedarville University

Central Connecticut State University

Central Michigan University

Chapman University

Charleston Southern University

Chicago State University

Christopher Newport University

City College of New York

Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Clemson University

Cleveland State University

Coastal Carolina University

Colby College

Colgate University

College of Charleston

College of Saint Mary

College of the Holy Cross

College of William &amp; Mary

Colorado Mesa University

Colorado State University

Columbia College Chicago

Columbia University

Coppin State University

Cornell University

Creighton University

Dartmouth College

Davidson College

Delaware State University

Denison University

DePaul University

Drake University

WHAT IS THE DEAN’S LIST?

Search schools

Top 10 Controversial Commencement Speakers of 2023

National Student Debt Clock

Brought to you by Yrefy

HOW WE SCORE

Our Mission

educate

restore

motivate

Support Dean's List

RioSlum Studio

WHAT IS THE DEAN’S LIST?

Search schools

Top 10 Controversial Commencement Speakers of 2023

National Student Debt Clock

Brought to you by Yrefy

HOW WE SCORE

Our Mission

educate

restore

motivate

Support Dean's List