Commencement 2008

June 5, 2008

Below, you will find full texts and audiovisual recordings of major speeches, the Phi Beta Kappa poet and Orator, and the lead student orators.


		J.K. Rowling received an honorary degree during Harvard’s Commencement Exercises on June 5, 2008. [Watch the speech]
Photograph by Stu Rosner

Thursday, June 5

Commencement Exercises — J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, delivers her Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. [text, audio, video]
Commencement Exercises — President Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s 28th president, delivers her Report to the Alumni at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. [text]
Commencement Exercises — Graduate English Address, “Q & A,” [text and audio] and Senior English Address, “Memory and Celebration.” [text and audio]


		Ben S. Bernanke addressed graduating seniors at Class Day. [Watch the speech]
Photograph by Jon Chase / Harvard News Office

Wednesday, June 4

Harvard Kennedy School Class Day — President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, M.P.A. ‘71, of Liberia, Africa’s first elected female president, delivers the 2008 graduation address at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Harvard College Class Day Ceremony — Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, delivers his Class Day speech titled, “Remarks on Class Day 2008” [text, audio and video]
Harvard College Class Day Ceremony — graduating seniors present their Harvard Orations and Ivy Orations: “From Baghdad to Boston: Dropping the Global H-Bomb” [video], “How to Tell a Harvard Man” [video], “The Federal Funds Rate and the Channels of Monetary Transmission” [video], and “Most Likely to Succeed” [video].
ROTC Commissioning Ceremony — President Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s 28th president, speaks at the ROTC Commissioning Ceremony. [text and audio]

Tuesday, June 3

Baccalaureate Service — President Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s 28th president, delivers her Baccalaureate Address. [text]
Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises — Carl Phillips ’81, professor of English and of African and African American Studies at Washington University, delivers his Phi Beta Kappa poem, titled “Night.” [audio]
Phi Beta Kappa Literary Exercises — Steven Weinberg, Nobel laureate in physics and formerly Higgins professor of physics at Harvard, delivers his Phi Beta Kappa Oration, titled “Without God.” [audio]

Commencement & Reunion Guide 2008

A Reunion of One’s Own — Connecting in the digital age
On the Career Carousel — College students prepare for life after graduation
Reunion Poem — “This Blessed Plot, This Earth, This Harvard ~ Part Three”
Sunday Indulgences — Brunch, as you like it
The Events of the Week
Site Seeing — Construction update

Harvard Square unveils Wi-Fi, just in time for Commencement (Metro Boston, June 4)
Harvard Magazine’s Commencement & Reunion listings
Harvard’s official Commencement page