0:02 Oh, beautiful for amber
0:10 waves of gra for
0:14 purple mountainsties above the fruited plain.
0:30 God shed his grace
0:33 on thee and crown
0:37 thy good with brotherhood
0:41 from sea to shining
0:55 Welcome to Stanford University's 134th annual commencement.
1:07 It is our tradition
1:10 to begin commencement with the university's
1:12 land Please welcome Jasmine
1:17 WA Kenny, class of 2025,
1:21 who will offer it this morning.
1:38 Suana koi neck now jasmine wkella
1:41 kiny neck puliglaw se heski
1:44 law turtle mountain chipa
1:46 wage poose earthlugger pect
1:49 matechock wlth skuyan kuhalmani
1:57 good morning my name is Jasmine welkiny
2:01 and I'm a proud Euro tribal citizen
2:03 in Turtle Mountain Chipua.
2:12 I come from the villages
2:14 of Woose, Earthlugger, and Peekaw
2:18 located at the confluence
2:19 of the Clamoth and Trinity Rivers in Northern California.
2:27 Today I have the honor of delivering this year's land acknowledgement.
2:32 Stanford sits on the ancestral
2:33 land of the Moakma Aloney tribe.
2:36 This land was and continues to be of great importance to the Aloney people.
2:42 Consistent with our values
2:44 of community and inclusion,
2:46 Stanford has a responsibility
2:48 to acknowledge, honor, and make visible
2:51 the university's relationship to native
2:57 Hey, what's up ma?
2:59 Everybody be good and take care of yourselves. Wow.
3:13 Let us be together.
3:16 Gathered together one last time.
3:20 Let us pause to mark this moment
3:23 with gratitude and with hope.
3:27 Gratitude for the deep and abiding
3:30 connections we have fostered here.
3:33 For those who accompanied,
3:35 encouraged, and held us all along the way.
3:40 Gratitude for the journey of learning and discovery.
3:44 A journey that taught us to seek truth through knowledge,
3:48 refusing easy answers, to wrestle with life's complexities. And gratitude.
3:56 Gratitude for all the ways in which we have grown
4:01 not only in our academic
4:03 achievements, but in the quiet
4:05 resilience forged through uncertainty, struggle, and doubt.
4:11 A resilience born of tenacious
4:13 optimism and undying hope.
4:19 As the world groans beneath ever pressing challenges,
4:23 let this be a moment
4:25 not just of but of deep resolve
4:31 to live with purpose,
4:33 to act with integrity,
4:35 to lead with humility.
4:38 May we carry from this place not only knowledge
4:41 but wisdom, not only ambition
4:44 but compassion, not only
4:47 credentials but a calling.
4:51 And so when this moment ends,
4:54 let us step forth boldly,
4:56 rooted in gratitude, radiant
4:58 in hope, ready to become
5:00 all we are meant to be
5:02 for ourselves and for the world.
5:07 You may be seated.
5:24 Members of the class of 2025,
5:34 faculty and staff, current and former trustees,
5:39 distinguished guests, family members, and friends. Welcome.
5:45 Welcome to Stanford's 134th
5:47 commencement Today we are celebrating
5:52 the largest graduating class in Stamford's history.
6:05 doctoral degrees, master's degrees,
6:17 and 2,140 bachelor's degrees.
6:26 You came to Stanford
6:28 from around the country
6:30 and from all over the world.
6:32 to seek a transformative education.
6:36 Today, you will leave
6:38 as Stamford And we are here to celebrate
6:43 this Let's hear it for the class of 2025.
6:58 Now, I'd like to acknowledge a few others who are here today.
7:02 The Stamford faculty, including those who have joined me today on the stage,
7:07 have invested in our graduates through their teaching and mentoring.
7:12 Our staff who are all around the stadium
7:15 have supported you in the residences,
7:18 libraries, and labs, and in student activities, programs, and teams.
7:23 Let's hear it for the Stamford
7:24 faculty and There is one more group to thank.
7:39 The families and friends who have devoted so much to get you to Stanford
7:43 and to support your education.
7:46 Graduates, could I ask you to rise and to turn and face your families
7:50 and and please join me in saying thank you.
8:13 And let me add to all the Stamford
8:15 fathers here today, happy Father's Day.
8:28 And now, Provos Martinez
8:29 will present the university awards.
8:37 It is now my privilege and pleasure to present the following prizes.
8:43 The President's Award for the Advancement
8:46 of the Common Good. The Walter J.
8:49 Gors Award for Excellence
8:51 in Teaching, the Lloyd W.
8:53 Dinklbiel Awards for distinctive
8:56 contributions to undergraduate education,
8:59 and the Kenneth M.
9:00 Cuthpartson Award for exceptional
9:03 service to Stanford University.
9:06 Recommendations for these awards were considered by a committee of faculty, students, and staff.
9:13 The President's Award for the advancement
9:15 of the common good honors alumni
9:17 who exemplify the university's
9:19 mission and values and who demonstrate
9:22 a commitment to learning,
9:24 social responsibility, and ethical and effective service.
9:28 I would like to ask the award recipients
9:30 to come forward at this time.
9:35 The recipients of the 2025
9:38 president's award for the advancement
9:39 of the common good
9:41 are Guyatri Shriant Datar and Pamela C. Roland.
9:52 On behalf of the university,
9:54 I congratulate you for this significant
9:56 recognition of your contributions
9:59 to the greater good of society.
10:09 The Gors Awards were established by a bequest from Walter J.
10:13 Gores, a Stamford alumnest
10:15 of the class of 1917
10:17 and recognize excellent teaching
10:20 at the undergraduate and graduate level.
10:23 I would like to ask the recipients
10:25 to come forward now
10:27 and I ask that you hold your applause
10:29 until I have announced all of this year's award winners.
10:42 The recipients of the 2025 Walter J.
10:45 Gores awards for excellence
10:47 in teaching are ya muualum
10:50 PhD candidate in electrical
10:52 engineering and knight hennessy scholar
10:55 civil diver lecturer in the earth systems
10:58 program Laura good associate
11:01 director for student programs
11:03 in the Stamford public humanities
11:05 and lecture in the English department and the feminist
11:08 gender and sexuality studies program
11:10 and Jonathan Gennap associate professor of history and of law in the school School
11:15 of Humanities and Sciences
11:17 and Professor of Law in the School of Law
11:19 and Kenneth Schultz, the William Bennett Monroe
11:22 Professor of Political Science
11:24 in the School of Humanities and Sciences.
11:28 On behalf of the university,
11:29 I congratulate each of you for this recognition
11:32 of your excellence in
11:48 I would like to ask the Dinkle Spiel award winners to come forward at
11:52 this Lloyd Dinklfield's service to Stanford
12:07 included the presidency of the board of trustees
12:09 in the 1950s and was characterized
12:12 by an enduring concern for the quality of undergraduate education.
12:17 The recipients of the 2025 Lloyd's W.
12:20 Dinkle Spiel award for distinctive
12:22 contributions to undergraduate education
12:25 are Diego Viegas Kagurabadza,
12:30 BA candidate in American studies and political science and ASSU president.
12:41 Payton Klene, BA candidate in human
12:48 and Divia Ganason, BA candidate in political science,
12:52 MS candidate in computer science and ASSU
12:55 vice president and Kristen M.
12:59 Azavdo, assistant dean and assistant athletic director,
13:02 student athlete success and well-being.
13:09 Also receiving this award is Jennifer
13:11 Randall Crosby, Psych 1 program director in the department of psychology
13:16 who could not be with us today.
13:18 On behalf of the university,
13:20 I congratulate all of you for this significant
13:22 recognition of your contributions
13:24 to undergraduate Our next award
13:36 is the Kenneth M.
13:37 Cuthbertson Award for exceptional
13:39 service to Stamford University.
13:42 I would like to ask the Cuthbertson
13:44 award winner to come forward at this time.
13:48 The award was established
13:49 in 1981 to honor the late Kenneth Cuthbertson
13:53 who steered Stanford's long range financial
13:56 planning and development programs.
13:58 The sole criteria of this award is the quality of the contribution
14:02 that the recipient has made to Stanford.
14:05 The recipient of the 2025 Kenneth M.
14:08 Cuthbertson Award for exceptional
14:10 contributions to Stanford University
14:13 is Ivonne Bonnie Maldonado,
14:16 senior associate dean for faculty development and engagement in the school of medicine.
14:20 TAB professor of global health and infectious
14:23 diseases, professor of pediatrics
14:26 and epidemiology and population health.
14:29 On behalf of the university,
14:31 I congratulate you for this distinguished
14:33 recognition of your exceptional
14:35 service to Stamford Congratulations
14:44 to all of the award
14:53 Thank you, Provos Martinez.
14:57 I am delighted to have my first opportunity
14:59 as president to address a graduating class.
15:08 Graduation ceremonies have important elements of tradition.
15:13 Even at Stamford, where we take pride in fresh thinking,
15:17 we have our academic
15:18 regalia, the wacky walk,
15:20 and the MBA students making noise disproportionate to their numbers.
15:33 Well done MBA students. Okay.
15:37 Many of you who are graduating
15:40 arrived at Stanford when we were reopening the campus after the pandemic.
15:45 Traditions had been forgotten.
15:48 The class of 2025
15:50 had to reinvent Stanford customs.
15:54 Sunday night movies at flicks,
15:56 the on call cafe and old union,
16:01 and the class had to renew the spirit of irreverence,
16:04 which combined with academic
16:06 excellence is essential to
16:10 The class of 2025
16:12 even arrived at a moment when some doubted
16:14 if Stanford was Congratulations, class of 2025.
16:21 I can confidently say that you will be remembered
16:24 as the class that brought back fun.
16:38 Looking out at you,
16:40 I am reminded of my own graduation
16:42 from Stamford in June of 1994.
16:46 I was out very late the night before.
16:51 In a rush to make it to the ceremony,
16:53 I put on my graduation
16:55 robe while wearing a pair of shorts and tea sandals.
16:59 During the ceremony, I was quite pleased with that decision
17:04 because it was incredibly hot.
17:07 But later, I somewhat regretted it
17:11 because after 31 years,
17:13 it is still the only thing that my mother remembers about my Stamford graduation.
17:20 In her honor, I decided to wear my teas
17:35 Now you are graduating.
17:39 You are graduating at a time when people are questioning
17:42 the value of universities
17:44 and what happens here on
17:47 It is essential for those of us who will remain at Stanford
17:52 and for you who are leaving
17:54 to answer those questions.
17:57 Universities exist for the purpose
18:00 of discovery and learning.
18:04 The knowledge that is created here
18:06 and on other campuses
18:08 illuminates our understanding of humanity,
18:11 the physical world, and what it is possible to create.
18:16 During your time at Stamford,
18:18 you've been part of a campus that has been the birthplace
18:21 of novel insights about American
18:23 history and comparative of pioneering
18:27 studies of social networks
18:29 and financial markets, and visionary
18:32 scientific advances such as the reccominant
18:35 DNA techniques that are now the foundation
18:38 of biotechnology, the the TCPIP
18:42 protocol on which the entire internet operates.
18:46 and the tools of optogenetics
18:48 that have revolutionized neuroscience.
18:53 The pursuit of new ideas at a university is different
18:56 than in a company or a government agency.
18:59 University research is driven by curiosity
19:02 and we publish it openly.
19:04 So there can be many paths to application.
19:08 Sometimes it happens quickly.
19:11 When Larry Pageige and Sergey Brin discovered the page rank algorithm as graduate students, they started Google.
19:17 Sometimes it happens slowly.
19:20 When Stanford faculty helped develop neural networks,
19:24 their ideas waited 30 years
19:26 for data and computation
19:28 to turn them into generative artificial
19:32 Profound ideas in the humanities and the social sciences are different still.
19:37 Occasionally they jump immediately into public discourse.
19:42 More often they filter out gradually.
19:45 Only in the fullness of time
19:47 do we appreciate how fundamentally
19:50 they have shaped our thinking.
19:53 Each of you has contributed
19:55 to this enterprise of discovery.
19:58 Whether you wrote an honors thesis
20:00 or a doctoral dissertation
20:02 or worked as a research assistant
20:04 or came to classes and seminars asking challenging questions.
20:09 The conditions that enable the search for knowledge
20:12 are the freedom to explore,
20:14 the willingness to debate, and the generosity to share ideas.
20:18 Today, university campuses are criticized
20:22 for being narrow and
20:24 The critics are not all wrong.
20:27 However, when a university is at its best,
20:31 when Stanford is at its best,
20:33 the campus is an unparalleled
20:35 place for freedom, truth, and enlightenment.
20:47 A great university is a place to encounter different people and different ideas
20:52 and to ask hard questions without assuming to know the answers.
20:56 Each of you has contributed to creating this at Stamford.
21:00 You debated what it means to be a citizen in a democracy.
21:03 You re-energized the Stamford political union
21:06 and you brought perspectives
21:07 from more than 110 countries.
21:16 So what is the value of universities?
21:20 I have pointed to the knowledge we create,
21:22 the innovation that follows,
21:24 and the inquiry and learning
21:25 on our I have left the most important part for last
21:30 because in fact, you are the answer to that question.
21:35 Our greatest contribution is what we are here to celebrate,
21:38 the qualities and potential of the people who live here.
21:43 Today, you will join more than 240,000
21:46 Stamford alumni whose contribution
21:49 to this country and the world is
21:52 You will join them in being scholars,
21:54 innovators, and public servants,
21:56 in leading organizations, and in contributing to local communities,
22:00 in creating families, in solving problems, and in seeking to elevate and uplift others.
22:06 We send you out with high expectations
22:09 and with high hopes for the qualities you will carry forth from
22:13 Let me name three. To be open-minded.
22:18 Stanford is a place to be curious and ask questions.
22:21 Keep that spirit of openness and curiosity. To explore fearlessly.
22:29 Stanford is a place to pursue knowledge and innovation and to be ambitious in your aspirations.
22:34 Keep that sense of possibility
22:37 to be optimistic, not in a naive way, but a realistic one
22:42 in the way that fuels persistence
22:44 and will allow you to tackle the hardest
22:48 I'm very fond of Wallace Stegner, who founded Stamford's
22:51 creative writing Stegner was the great chronicler of the American West, and Stamford
22:59 embodies its best characteristics.
23:01 Stagner wrote in words that I think apply to Stamford,
23:05 "One cannot be pessimistic about the West.
23:09 It is the native home of hope."
23:12 I encourage you to take the open-minded,
23:15 exploratory, optimistic spirit of Stamford
23:18 with you into the world and share it with the people around you.
23:23 Class of 2025, we send you off with confidence in what you've learned at
23:28 Stamford and what you will contribute to the world.
23:32 Know that whatever you encounter,
23:34 you have Stamford's tailwind
23:35 of freedom behind you. Congratulations.
23:50 And that brings me to another Stamford graduate.
23:52 Today's commencement speaker, Katie Leiddki
24:02 is the most decorated American female Olympian.
24:10 She holds 21 world championship titles.
24:15 She has competed in four Olympics
24:17 beginning in 2012 in London when she was 15 years old.
24:22 She has won nine gold medals, more than any female Olympian.
24:28 Katie has broken 17 world and national
24:33 Last month she set a new world record in the 800 meter freestyle.
24:39 And just as importantly,
24:41 Katie is a Stamford Cardinal.
24:48 She graduated in 2020 with a major in psychology and a minor in political Go psychology majors.
24:57 As a Stanford swimmer, Katie and her teammates won back-to-back NCAA team championships.
25:02 Katie herself set 11 US records,
25:04 won eight NCAA titles, and broke 15 NCAA records.
25:11 Exemplifying Stanford's tradition of academic and athletic excellence,
25:16 that is fielding teams of nerds who win.
25:22 Katie was named the Division One Academic
25:24 All-American of the Year across all NCAA sports.
25:30 Last year, Katie published her New York Times bestselling memoir, Just Add Water, and
25:34 was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
25:39 When I wrote to Katie
25:41 to invite her to speak at commencement,
25:43 she wrote back within minutes with four emojis. 100 100 fire.
25:59 I think that's how all of us feel about having Katie as a Stanford alumni.
26:04 Please join me in welcoming Katie Thank you.
26:20 Thank you, President Leven, for that very kind introduction.
26:24 And congratulations, class of 2025.
26:31 faculty members, Provos Martinez,
26:34 board of trustees, and all of you.
26:37 Thank you for the very warm welcome back to
26:43 I understand from the senior class presidents that I was selected to speak today
26:48 through some kind of a class survey,
26:51 and I am so honored to be given this opportunity.
26:55 But I I have to say I I hope there was no padding of
26:58 the survey results by the men's and women's swim teams.
27:02 I I saw many of you out there in your your wacky walk swimsuits,
27:06 and I appreciate being made to feel at
27:11 Thank you to my family for being here, and a huge shout out to
27:14 my former Stanford swim coaches, Greg Mian and Tracy Sleser.
27:18 I've enjoyed spending time the last few days around campus swimming,
27:22 seeing old friends, and meeting many of you at dinner on the quad and around campus.
27:28 I just I love Stanford so much.
27:31 As President Leven said earlier,
27:33 it's Father's Day and I too
27:36 would like to wish all of the fathers here,
27:38 including my own, a very happy Father's Day.
27:46 You know, I'm so fortunate to have a father who
27:50 was willing to wake up at 4:00 a.m.
27:52 to drive me to swim practices
27:54 when I was younger.
27:56 When I was a little kid,
27:58 about yehigh, my dad,
28:01 knowing that I love to swim
28:03 and also that I loved math,
28:06 taught me that swim races could be decided by just
28:09 fractions of a second.
28:12 He said that some races might be decided by just
28:15 1/100th of a second.
28:17 And to demonstrate what a small period of time that was,
28:21 he gave me this stopwatch
28:23 and told me to try to start and stop the watch as fast as
28:27 I could and then to look to see how much time was measured on the stopwatch.
28:32 I'm going to do it here now.
28:36 I could never do it in faster than a tenth of a second,
28:39 which revealed to me just how short
28:42 1/100th of a second really is.
28:45 In some ways, that exercise
28:48 also taught me how fast time flies by.
28:52 I know that some of you sitting out there,
28:54 though you may have had some long days completing assignments,
28:58 probably feel that your time here at Stanford has flown by.
29:02 Others of you perhaps not.
29:05 But here you are at your graduation
29:08 and if you spent four academic
29:10 years on campus here at Stanford,
29:12 say about 300 days each year,
29:16 you have been here for approximately
29:18 104 million seconds of your life. 104 million seconds.
29:26 And I got to tell you, once you graduate,
29:28 you'll spend nearly as many seconds of your life
29:32 explaining to people why Stanford's
29:34 mascot is a dancing tree.
29:39 Okay, let me say something right off the bat.
29:42 I am at most
29:44 seven years older than many of you undergrads here today.
29:48 I can tell you everything you need to know
29:51 about freestyle and flip turns.
29:54 I cannot tell you everything you need to know about life.
29:58 I can't even tell you what it's like to turn 30.
30:04 But one thing I do feel like I have expertise in is distance.
30:09 As a distance swimmer,
30:11 I have logged a lot of miles in the water.
30:15 I've spent countless hours
30:16 practicing and staring at that black line on the bottom of the pool,
30:21 learning what it means to keep going when
30:23 no one is watching.
30:26 So, Stanford class of 2025,
30:29 allow me to offer some insights
30:31 as to how to go the distance
30:33 in whatever field and whatever life you may choose.
30:39 In my experience, there are three elements
30:41 to going the distance.
30:43 pacing, process, and time.
30:48 So, let's talk about pacing first.
30:51 I was 15 years old when I won my first Olympic gold medal.
30:57 Looking back now, it's it's crazy to me, too.
31:00 So, let me let me set the scene for you for the race.
31:03 I had just finished my freshman year of high school.
31:07 I was the youngest member in the entire US Olympic athlete delegation.
31:12 And it was my very first time swimming in a meet outside of the United States.
31:17 Nobody knows who I am.
31:20 The Olympics are in London
31:21 and the defending Olympic champion and favorite in my race is British.
31:27 Her name is Becky Adlington,
31:29 a really gracious champion.
31:31 And so I know the crowd
31:32 will be chanting Becky, Becky.
31:37 And I have programmed myself to think they are shouting leaki.
31:41 Lette G, Prince William and Princess Kate are there
31:47 and it is so loud.
31:50 It gets quiet for
31:52 swimmers, take your mark.
31:56 Then the beep goes off.
31:57 I dive in and I'm instantly in the lead.
32:01 My coach at the time, Yuri Sugyama,
32:04 and another coach, the late great John Banchek,
32:08 had advised me to be cautious
32:09 not to go out
32:11 too fast, given the excitement I would feel swimming in a lane next to
32:15 the reigning Olympic Well, I I didn't quite listen to that
32:21 I took the lead from the start, and I kept expanding on it.
32:26 About midway through the race, I remember thinking, "Where is everybody?"
32:33 There's a brief second where I I wonder if I'm doing something wrong,
32:37 like I've gone out too fast.
32:40 Then I tell myself, just keep going. And I did.
32:44 I won by over 4 seconds. Thank you.
32:51 So after after my win, coach Banchek
32:55 comes up to me with this befuddled
32:57 look on his face
32:58 and says, "You didn't follow the plan."
33:02 Then he gives me a big hug
33:04 and says, "But that's okay."
33:08 Later that night in the Olympic Village, I watched the replay of the race.
33:12 For most of the race, the NBC announcers
33:14 seemed like they were trying to will me into slowing down.
33:19 35 seconds into the race, I'm leading.
33:21 And they say, "She needs to take her foot off the pedal here."
33:26 20 seconds later, still in the lead.
33:29 She swam too fast.
33:30 She needs to settle back and get into a rhythm.
33:34 Another two minutes later, they question my strategy.
33:37 She is so far out there now.
33:39 Unless she has a lot of confidence in her stroke and her pace,
33:43 it may be a little quick
33:45 because these wy veterans
33:47 know exactly what they're doing.
33:52 threearters of the way through the race, the tone of the announcers changes.
33:56 Now they're celebrating as I extend my lead and eventually win.
34:01 No second guessing, no telling me to take my foot off the
34:05 Okay, the the point of all this is not to criticize the announcers.
34:09 They were just doing their jobs.
34:11 But can you imagine
34:12 what it would have been like for me
34:14 if I were hearing that commentary
34:17 the whole time I was swimming?
34:19 I'd be thinking, hm, maybe they're right.
34:22 I I should probably slow down.
34:26 Point is, you will probably tell have you will probably have people tell you to pace yourself.
34:32 Try not to rush. You're still young.
34:36 And that might be the right advice.
34:39 But I also want you to consider
34:42 where being young and unknown
34:45 could be an Go fast when you need to go fast.
34:58 It's easy to hear the voices
35:00 telling you to pace yourself
35:02 and take your foot off the pedal.
35:05 But I found that
35:06 once you start fast,
35:08 you can go further than you think you can.
35:10 So I say to you today, listen to your coaches,
35:13 listen to your family members,
35:15 listen to your mentors and bosses,
35:18 but also listen to yourself.
35:22 Don't be afraid to take the lead.
35:26 Sometimes you just have to go for it
35:28 and find out what you're capable of.
35:39 course, knowing when to go full speed is
35:41 only part of the equation.
35:43 Going the distance is also
35:45 about enjoying the day-to-day process.
35:49 I'm often asked for my secret,
35:51 as if there's some secret code to Olympic gold.
35:56 And today, Stanford, I'm going to share my secret. Ready? It involves food.
36:03 Yeah, everyone loves food, especially at
36:07 As I was making my way through the sport of swimming,
36:11 the one question other parents always
36:13 asked my mother was,
36:15 "What do you feed Katie?
36:18 What are you feeding that kid?"
36:20 My mother and her special mom sort of way
36:24 would often say, "Oh,
36:27 you know, whatever's on sale that week,
36:29 that's what we feed her.
36:32 If strawberries are on sale, then strawberries.
36:36 Well, when I was about
36:38 10 years old, my mother
36:40 read somewhere that low-fat
36:42 chocolate yogurt was a good breakfast meal for swimmers.
36:47 But for whatever reason, she couldn't find low-fat
36:49 chocolate yogurt at the store.
36:51 And so, for about a year, she somehow
36:54 substituted chocolate ice cream
36:58 for the low-fat yogurt.
37:00 And I think that explains
37:03 why I was so eager to wake up early in the morning for practice.
37:09 You know what's what's funny is
37:11 everyone loves that ice cream story,
37:13 but when I tell them that that's the
37:16 secret, they look kind of disappointed.
37:19 Like, come on, Katie.
37:21 What's the real secret?
37:23 Okay, obviously ice cream isn't the secret.
37:26 Truth is, there there really isn't a
37:30 Perhaps the closest I can come is this.
37:34 I set goals, but those goals aren't about winning.
37:40 Winning is inherently about comparison.
37:44 Comparison to others and then
37:47 even if you keep winning,
37:49 you eventually get compared to yourself,
37:52 a younger, more dominant version of yourself.
37:56 That's why my goals
37:58 are always about my own performance
38:01 and my goals are always
38:05 Last month I hit a time I hadn't hit in nine years. I was elated.
38:12 I I I talked about that time like it was an old friend. 356.
38:21 Great to see you
38:23 Afterwards, I was being interviewed and I could tell the reporter
38:27 wanted me to say I'd been chasing my own ghost
38:30 from Truth is, that's not what I do.
38:35 I chase gold times,
38:37 not my past self.
38:39 I stay focused on my pacing,
38:41 my technique, and the effort it will take to reach those
38:46 The real race is always the same.
38:49 It's me against my goals.
38:53 Now, I'm I'm not oblivious
38:54 to the fact that hitting those goals
38:57 may result in winning,
38:59 and I I don't want to downplay
39:01 the feeling of winning gold.
39:03 Being on that medal stand is a feeling I wish everyone could experience.
39:09 But when I look back at those races, what gives me the most joy
39:12 is the goal being reached.
39:15 This is why I tell you,
39:17 you don't have to win the race.
39:20 You just need to win your race.
39:30 And winning your race
39:32 means falling in love with the process.
39:35 Fall in love with the process,
39:38 not the I've been in an Olympic final race
39:43 15 times, which is
39:46 170 laps or around 5 and a half miles,
39:50 but I estimate I've swam around 26,000
39:53 miles in my life.
39:55 And actually, I'll I'll do another few later today.
40:00 All told, that's 26,000
40:02 miles to set up about 5 and a half miles of Olympic
40:08 Swimmers talk about the fact that
40:10 every time you swim in a practice,
40:12 you are putting miles
40:14 into the bank to call upon in competition.
40:18 And I was thinking about how many pages
40:21 you seniors have read over four years at
40:25 I asked some of this year's class presidents
40:28 to run some calculations for me.
40:30 And in true Stanford fashion,
40:33 they wanted to be precise,
40:35 separating out different types of reading,
40:38 like reading for class,
40:40 reading for leisure, reading opeds.
40:43 The consensus is you probably had something like 15,000
40:47 pages of assigned reading
40:49 to reach graduation and maybe a little more if you were an English 15,000 pages.
40:58 You won't remember every page,
41:00 but every page mattered.
41:03 Every lap, every page,
41:05 every late night study session,
41:08 every line of code,
41:09 every conversation with professors and peers,
41:12 every latte at Koopa,
41:16 they've all been part of your process.
41:19 As you move forward, trust your process.
41:23 Fall in love with your process.
41:25 Build a community that supports that process
41:29 and trust that all those
41:30 small, seemingly insignificant moments
41:34 have added up to something special.
41:36 They've made you into the person you are today.
41:41 There's one more element
41:42 we need to discuss, and that's time.
41:46 This probably sounds like I'm going to reference the stopwatch
41:49 again, but I actually want to talk to you about how you spend your
41:53 time and who you spend it
41:57 One of the questions I'm often asked is,
42:00 "What do you think about when you're swimming?"
42:04 While I'm a little suspicious,
42:06 this is just another way of saying
42:08 you must get kind of bored during those long races,
42:12 I also get it.
42:14 Distance swimmers have a lot of time to think.
42:18 When your races are 15 minutes long, you can't spend the whole time thinking, "Must go faster."
42:26 So, what do I think about?
42:29 I always count the laps.
42:31 Sometimes I have a song stuck in my head.
42:35 But my favorite races
42:36 are the ones where I think of people.
42:39 I think about training partners.
42:42 I think about my grandpa Jerry
42:43 immigrating from Czechoslovakia to study at an American university.
42:48 I think about my grandpa Hagen
42:50 serving as a Navy surgeon in World War II.
42:54 In the Tokyo Olympics,
42:55 I had two medal races
42:56 about 70 minutes apart.
42:59 The first was the 200 meter free.
43:02 I'm still not quite sure what happened, but
43:05 I just felt off.
43:07 It was my 36th
43:09 international race and the first time I didn't medddal
43:13 and I had under an hour to get ready for my next race, the 1500 meter freestyle.
43:19 I knew I'd have to dig deep and fight.
43:22 I remember I was in the warm-own pool.
43:24 My brain was clouded with doubt
43:27 and I kept telling myself to relax.
43:30 I had to find a way to shake things off and
43:35 That's when I started to think about my
43:38 I envisioned my grandmothers
43:40 watching me on TV back home.
43:43 I pictured them cheering for me.
43:46 And if if I were going to dwell on anything in those difficult moments,
43:50 it was going to be on the toughness
43:52 and warmth of my grandmothers.
43:55 For nearly every stroke of that 30-lap
43:57 race, I just repeated their names. Grandma Hagen. Grandma Ba. Grandma Hagen. Grandma Ba. And it worked.
44:07 I swam with a sense of strength and freedom.
44:10 I felt like my grandparents
44:12 lifted me up to gold that
44:15 My grandma Hagen is now
44:17 seven months shy of turning a hundred years old.
44:25 We don't know exactly
44:27 how long our distance
44:29 in life will be.
44:31 But whatever it is,
44:33 we need to spend that time in a meaningful way.
44:37 Sometimes that means trying to get from point A to point B
44:42 as fast as we can.
44:44 Most times that means dealing with
44:48 It means spending time on hard problems,
44:52 problems that you sometimes
44:53 can't solve on your own.
44:57 As you leave Stamford,
44:58 so many of you are going places where you won't have a road map.
45:04 The truly important work
45:06 will sometimes feel like you're swimming alone.
45:10 Yet, I've found those are the moments
45:13 where I most needed my people,
45:16 my family, my teammates, my coaches.
45:20 They're the voices that carry you through the tough times.
45:24 Here are my questions for you.
45:28 Who are those people who are in your
45:31 when you and your friends are spread out across the country?
45:35 Who will you feel cheering for you?
45:39 When you have to dig deep and find a way to
45:42 swim your best race,
45:44 who will be on your mind?
45:48 Here's something that might surprise you.
45:51 Your Stamford friends aren't limited
45:53 to who your Stamford
45:55 friends are You have no idea how many alumni
46:00 you will wind up friends with.
46:02 I have Stanford friends from every generation
46:06 because even if you don't know them now,
46:08 you know Stamford and they know
46:12 They know what it's like to have a picnic at the Oval.
46:15 They know what it's like to go fountain hopping.
46:18 They know what it's like to return from class and see one of your
46:22 professors interviewed on national news.
46:25 And yes, they know about CS 106A.
46:31 Point being, you can't go the distance
46:35 Continue to surround yourself with people who will challenge you,
46:39 support you, and make you laugh.
46:42 Make sure you spend time with the people
46:45 who matter to you. process, and time.
46:52 Like many of you, I'm still figuring out
46:55 what it means to go the distance in
46:59 How do you pace your life?
47:01 What does your day-to-day process look like?
47:04 How do you prioritize your time?
47:08 We're all coming from a place here at Stanford
47:11 that has taught us to ask tough questions like these.
47:15 We might not have all the answers,
47:18 but today we can take joy in the pursuit.
47:23 So, as you take the starting block
47:26 and you get ready to dive in to go the distance,
47:29 I want you to remember this.
47:32 Stanford was the best choice
47:34 on your first day.
47:36 It's the best choice on your last day.
47:40 I've loved everything about being a Stamford grad
47:43 and I think you will too.
47:46 And the best is yet to come.
47:49 So graduates, take your mark
47:53 and go out there and make your mark.
47:56 Congratulations, class of 2025.
47:59 Thank Thank you, Katie,
48:30 for those remarks and for
48:32 being here with our graduates today.
48:35 It's great to have you back on the farm.
48:39 Now, will the provost
48:41 please present the candidates for degrees? Mr.
48:46 President, first I have the honor to recognize
48:49 all those who have completed the requirements
48:52 for master's and doctoral degrees.
48:55 They will be presented to you by the deans of their schools.
49:02 Will the candidates from the school of engineering
49:05 please stand if you are able Mr.
49:24 President, I present to you those who have completed the requirements
49:29 for the degrees of Master of Science,
49:32 Engineer, and Doctor of Philosophy.
49:35 Thank you, Dean Whidom.
49:37 By the authority vested in me by the faculty and trustees,
49:41 I am delighted to confer publicly upon you
49:44 the degrees for which you have been presented
49:46 and to admit you to their rights, responsibilities, and privileges. Congratulations.
50:02 Will the graduates from the School of Engineering please be seated?
50:10 Will the candidates from the School of Law please stand if you are able? Mr.
50:25 President, I present to you those who have completed the requirements for the degrees
50:29 of doctor of juristprudence,
50:32 master of laws, master of legal studies,
50:36 master of the science of law,
50:38 and doctor of the science of law.
50:43 Thank you, Dean Triantes.
50:44 And may I welcome you to your first commencement
50:46 as dean of the school of law.
50:52 By the authority vested in me by the faculty and trustees,
50:56 I am delighted to confer publicly upon you
50:59 the degrees for which you have been presented
51:01 and to admit you to their rights, responsibilities, and privileges.
51:13 Will the graduates of the School of Law please be seated?
51:26 Will the candidates from the graduate school of education
51:29 please stand if you are able. Mr.
51:37 President, I present to you those who have completed the requirements
51:40 for the degrees of masters of arts, masters of science, and doctor of philosophy.
51:45 Thank you, Dean Schwarz.
51:46 By the authority vested in me by the faculty and trustees,
51:50 I am delighted to confer
51:51 publicly upon you the degrees
51:54 for which you have been presented
51:56 and to admit you to their rights, responsibilities, and privileges. Congratulations.
52:06 Will the graduates from the Graduate School of Education please be seated.
52:22 Will the candidates of the School of Humanities
52:25 and Sciences please stand if you're able. Mr.
52:36 President, I present to you those who have completed
52:39 the requirements for the degrees of Masters
52:42 of Arts, Master of Fine Arts,
52:46 FA, Masters of Liberal Arts,
52:48 Master of Public Policy,
52:51 Master of Science, Doctor
52:53 of Musical Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy.
52:58 Thank you, Dean Mudget.
53:00 By the authority vested in me by the faculty and trustees,
53:04 I am delighted to confer
53:06 publicly upon you the degrees for which you have been presented
53:10 and to admit you to their rights, responsibilities, and privileges.
53:24 Will the graduates of the School of Humanities
53:26 and Sciences please be
53:38 Will the candidates from the Stanford
53:40 Door School of Sustainability
53:42 please stand if you're able. Mr.
53:53 President, I present to you those who have completed the requirements
53:58 for the degrees of Master of Arts,
54:01 Master of Science, and the Doctor of Philosophy.
54:05 Thank you, Dean Majamar.
54:07 By the authority vested in me by the faculty
54:10 and trustees, I am delighted
54:12 to confer publicly upon you
54:14 the degrees for which you have been presented
54:17 and to admit you to their rights, responsibilities, and privileges. Congratulations.
54:29 Will the graduates from the Stanford Door School of Sustainability
54:33 please be Will the gra will the candidates from the Graduate School of Business
54:47 please stand if you are able? Mr.
55:13 President, I present to you those who have completed the requirements
55:17 for the degrees of
55:19 Master of Arts and Business Research,
55:22 Master of Science and Management,
55:24 Master of Business Administration,
55:27 and Doctor of Thank you, Dean Demarzo,
55:32 and thank you for your service this year as dean of the Graduate School of Business.
55:38 By the authority vested in me by the faculty and trustees of the university,
55:43 I am delighted to confer publicly upon you
55:46 the degrees for which you have been presented
55:48 and to admit you to their rights, responsibilities, and privileges. Congratulations.
56:06 Will the graduates from the school of business please be seated?
56:21 Will the candidates from the School of Medicine please stand if you're able? Mr.
56:34 President, I present to you those who have completed the requirements
56:38 for the degrees of Master of Science and Physician
56:41 Assistant Studies, Master of Science,
56:44 Doctor of Philosophy, and Doctor of Medicine.
56:48 Thank you, Dean Miner.
56:50 By the authority vested in me by the faculty
56:52 and trustees, I am delighted to confer publicly upon you
56:56 the degrees for which you have been presented
56:59 and to admit you to their rights, responsibilities, and privileges. Congratulations.
57:13 Will the graduates from the School of Medicine please be seated?
57:25 Well, President Levan, have have we forgotten anyone?
57:36 I I don't think so, actually.
57:39 I don't hear anyone out there.
57:47 the undergraduates of course. Uh now, Mr.
57:53 President, I have the honor to recognize
57:56 all those who have completed the requirements for undergraduate degrees.
58:01 Will the recipients of the degrees of Bachelor of Arts,
58:04 Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Arts and Sciences
58:07 please stand if you are able. Mr.
58:43 President, I present to you those who have completed the requirements
58:46 for the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Science degrees and the Bachelor
58:50 of Arts and Science degree.
58:53 By the authority vested in me by the faculty and trustees,
58:57 I am delighted to confer publicly
59:00 upon each of you
59:01 the bachelor degree and to admit you to its rights, responsibilities, and privileges. Congratulations.
59:26 Will the graduates please be seated.
59:35 Thank you, Provos Martinez.
59:38 Stanford class of 2025.
59:42 Today you leave the family of Stamford
59:44 students, but you will always have a home here at Stamford.
59:50 I wish you happiness. meaning and adventure. Congratulations.
60:05 Now, please rise if you are able for the Stamford hymn and the benediction.
60:41 The rolling foot rise
60:45 up towards mountains higher.
60:50 Where at the coast
60:53 range lies in the
60:56 sunet fire, flushing deep and pale.
61:04 Here we raise our
61:06 voices hailing thee from
61:14 the fors to the bay.
61:18 It shall ring as we sing.
61:23 It shall ring and float.
61:57 Let us be together.
62:00 In the days and weeks to come,
62:04 may we hold fast to the curiosity
62:06 and love of discovery honed here.
62:11 May our search for knowledge
62:13 cultivate new communities marked by freedom, truth, and enlightenment.
62:20 And as we go,
62:22 may we learn to trust our own pace.
62:26 Going fast when we need to go
62:29 Loving the process as we chase our goals
62:34 and seeking never to win
62:36 the race but our race.
62:40 And above all, above
62:42 all, may we cherish the ones who matter most,
62:47 remembering that none of us go this distance alone.
62:51 So friends, let us go forth this day
62:56 taking life's joy with us,
63:02 moving into the world
63:04 ever more with that open-minded,
63:07 exploratory, optimistic spirit of Stanford,
63:11 knowing that you always
63:13 have a home here
63:15 today and ever more.
63:18 May it be so. Amen. do me. Okay.
64:59 Now I'll wait for you. Heat. Heat.
